Speaker
Prof. Guo-Qiang LI
Professor of structural engineering at the College of Civil Engineering in Tongji University, China
Abstract
Steel structures are wide used for various buildings and bridges. However, serious damages may be happened to steel structures due to fire. The main reasons are the temperature of fire is very high and the strength of steel is decreased with elevation of temperatures. So, steel structures need to be protected against fire. The cementitious coating and Intumescent coating are commonly used for this purpose. A number of challenging issues in fire protection of steel structures with using the two kinds of coatings are presented. Issue 1 is variation of thermal conductivity of coating, which causes hardness in predicting the temperature of the protected steel elements in fire and rating thermal resistance of coating. Isuue 2 is aging of intumescent coating, which affects the fire safety of protected steel structures. Issue 3 is damage of cementitious coating, which greatly endanger fire safety of protected steel structures. And issue 4 is fire safety of unprotected steel structures, which is the needs of clients and possible in some conditions.
Biography
Guo-Qiang Li is currently a professor of structural engineering at the College of Civil Engineering in Tongji University, the director of Research Centro of Education Ministry for Steel Construction and the director of National Research Centro of China for Pre-fabrication Construction. He is also a vice-chairman of China Association of Construction Standardization and the Chairman of China Association for Fire-Resistance of Steel Construction. In addition, he is the director of the committee for Accreditation of Higher Education for Civil Engineering in China and the director of the steering committee of Civil Engineering Education of China. He is also a fellow of Institution of Structural Engineers in UK, an Honorary Fellow of Hong Kong Institute of Steel Construction.
Professor Li’s research has been mainly in the area of hazard mitigation including earthquake-resistance, fire-resistance and blast-resistance for steel structures. He has been in charge of more than 40 research projects funded respectively by Chinese Science and Technology Ministry, Construction Ministry, Education Ministry, Natural Science Foundation and Shanghai Science and Technology Committee. He has published 13 technical books and more than 500 journal papers in Chinese and English relevant to his research topics.