On Fire Severity of Building in Performance-Based Design

Analyzing fire severity of designed fire scene is necessary for building fire protection. Ordinary building fire times are calculated from statistic data of their fire heat release rates. Building fire is modeled mathematically to deduce its time-temperature function. Basing on this function curve and Simon Ingberg’s fire severity definition, we establish fire severity classification theory for building fire, including definition and equation of its fire severity, and definition of its fire severity coefficient along with calculation of those coefficients of ordinary combustible solids, and calculation and classification steps for building fire severity.