I read the article, Structural Analysis of Compression Deformation and Failure of Aluminum in Fire, which is located at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) website. This article is basically a lab report for the testing of aluminum as if it were subjected to temperatures within in a fire. The article describes how the aluminum will be tested. The will be several test runs on one specific type of aluminum alloy (5083 AL). First, a specimen will be tested while subjected to only compression loads. Then, there will several specimens subjected to the same compression loads as the first test, but heat that is representative of a fire will also be added in as a factor. There will also be different levels of heat applied to each specimen that is representative of different types of fires. This allows engineering to model how the strength of the aluminum, as well as it’s physical properties are changed when subjected to different levels of radiant heat. It was determined from these tests that yielding strength properties of the aluminum were reduced with heat was added into the equation. By using the modeling approach, realistic deformations of the aluminum specimens were obtained and can be used in structural analysis of buildings.
Since I am getting an emphasis in Structural Engineering, this article was very interesting to me. Having to take several structures classes with similar labs to this one, I was able to understand not only what their results meant in general, but what their results meant to engineering and design. Civil engineering is the oldest engineering discipline studied today and everyday there a new discoveries being made about the materials used in design. It is cool to see how all the classes and labs that we do in college are being done everywhere around the world by professionals. It makes me think that I am actually going to use a great deal of knowledge that I have gained while in college when I start my career.
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