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Abstract
In India, design for fire safety follows a prescriptive code-based approach. Building codes detail the types of construction materials, assemblies, and fire suppression systems that are required for various building types. This prescriptive method has prevented structural engineers from exposure to performance-based design approaches for fire safety. The motivation for this thesis was to increase the awareness of the structural engineering field to the concepts behind structural design for fire safety. Extensive research has been published on the performance of structural steel in fire conditions, and simplified design tools already exist to describe its behavior. Such tools do not exist for reinforced concrete structures. Research on concrete has been more focused on material properties rather than structural performance.