GOALI: Improving the Reliability of Aluminum Structures During Fire Through Computational Modeling

本次学术联络与工业（GOALI）项目的研究目标是构建一个概率计算框架，用于模拟火灾下建筑物铝结构的响应。结果可以对铝结构（和一般的韧性金属结构）的设计和分析实践产生深远的影响，通过启用概率通知标准来解释非线性材料响应的可变性。目前的方法采用简单的安全系数，适用较大的罚款，以考虑火灾风险。通过这项工作开发的过程可以为许多行业节省大量成本，从民用结构设计到汽车、飞机和海军舰艇设计。该研究还将通过联合学术-行业指导为巴尔的摩地区的高中生提供独特的教育机会。参与该项目的研究生将通过在行业合作伙伴实习的方式进行专业交流。该项目将通过量化与材料和火灾事件相关的不确定性，有助于加强对铝材料在同时应力和高温下的响应的理解。研究计划包括评估材料层面的不确定性，以及与温度速率和火灾暴露时间相关的不确定性。目标是开发概率可靠性分析，可以纳入到有限元软件中。该项目将结合行业合作伙伴开发的最先进的确定性计算工具，这些工具已被证明可以准确地模拟延性金属的蠕变破裂和弹塑性破坏，以及该机构开发的不确定性量化、随机模拟和结构可靠性方法。分析模型的验证将使用先前从其他来源获得的实验数据进行。

The research objective of this Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) project is to construct a probabilistic computational framework for modeling response of aluminum structure in buildings subjected to fire. The results can have a profound impact on the design and analysis practices for aluminum structures (and ductile metal structures in general) by enabling probabilistically informed standards that account for variability in nonlinear material responses. Current methods employing simplistic safety factors apply a large penalty to account for fire risk. The processes developed through this work can result in significant cost saving for numerous industries ranging from civil structural design to automotive, aircraft, and naval vessel design. The research will also afford unique educational opportunities to high school students in the Baltimore area through joint academic-industry mentorship. Graduate students involved in the project will benefit from professional exchange through internship at the industry partner. This project will serve to enhance understanding of the material response of aluminum under simultaneous stress and high temperature by quantifying the uncertainties associated with both the materials and the fire events. The research plan includes assessment of uncertainties at the material level as well as uncertainties related to temperature rate and fire exposure time. The goal is to develop probabilistic reliability analysis that can be incorporated in to finite element software. The program will couple state-of-the-art deterministic computational tools developed by the industry partner which have been shown to accurately model the creep rupture and elastoplastic failure of ductile metals with uncertainty quantification, stochastic simulation, and structural reliability methods developed at the institution. Validation of the analytical model will be done using the previously conducted experimental data available from other sources.