ABSTRACT
The large-scale test reported by G. M. E. Cooke and D. J. Latham was on a frame heated by a natural compartment fire. The frame was of unprotected steelwork except that the stanchion webs were filled in by non-loadbearing blockwork. Such non-loadbearing blockwork had already been shown to increase the fire resistance of bare steelwork. The timber frame structure at Cardington had two fire tests carried out. The first one was effectively designed to evaluate the fire spread and the second one to evaluate the performance of stairs subject effectively to arson. Only one concrete frame structure was constructed. It was of a slightly unusual format, in that it was a flat slab with diagonal steel flats acting as bracing. The columns were kept at the same size throughout the structure with the concrete strength being increased in the columns in the lower storeys.
