Experimental And Numerical Study Of Glass Fa Ades Breakage Behavior Under Fire Conditions

Experimental and Numerical Study of Glass Façades Breakage Behavior Under Fire Conditions

Introduction to Optimum Design

Introduction to Optimum Design, Third Edition describes an organized approach to engineering design optimization in a rigorous yet simplified manner. It illustrates various concepts and procedures with simple examples and demonstrates their applicability to engineering design problems. Formulation of a design problem as an optimization problem is emphasized and illustrated throughout the text. Excel and MATLAB® are featured as learning and teaching aids. - Basic concepts of optimality conditions and numerical methods are described with simple and practical examples, making the material highly teachable and learnable - Includes applications of optimization methods for structural, mechanical, aerospace, and industrial engineering problems - Introduction to MATLAB Optimization Toolbox - Practical design examples introduce students to the use of optimization methods early in the book - New example problems throughout the text are enhanced with detailed illustrations - Optimum design with Excel Solver has been expanded into a full chapter - New chapter on several advanced optimum design topics serves the needs of instructors who teach more advanced courses

An Experimental Investigation of Glass Breakage in Compartment Fires

An experimental investigation has been completed which studied the breaking of window glass by fire. The experiments were carried out in a specially designed compartment to achieve two-layer flows characteristic of normal building fires. The experimental data was collected from two test groups: the first for windows with their edges insulated from the fire (edge-protected) and the second for windows uniformly heated by the fire (edge-unprotected). The results of the edge-protected window tests indicated that the glass breakage was caused by a critical temperature difference between the central heated portion of the pane and the glass edge. The experimental work showed the critical value to be approximately 90C. After the material properties of the glass were determined, the theoretical findings of Keski-Rahkonen were used to obtain a value of 70C; the difference attributed to radiative heating. The test results also demonstrated a distinctive loss of integrity by the windows. When breakage occurred, the cracks spread throughout the glass, joined together and caused at least partial collapse of the pane. The results from the edge-unprotected window tests were quite different. There were relatively few cracks developed and almost no propagation across the glass. Consequently, there was no window collapse in any of these cases. The breakage did initiate at a consistent glass temperature value, however, the mechanism for these tests is not known.