Universal design charts for insulation of steel members in fire

Charts for insulation design of steel members in fire are usually provided by the manufacturers of the specified fire protection materials. These design charts may not be readily available, particularly for fire protection materials which may not have proprietary rights. This paper describes the development of a set of universal charts for the insulation design of steel members in fire for a wide range of fire protection materials of known physical and thermal properties. The main advantage of using these charts for insulation design is that they apply to all types of fire protection material without referring to the manufacturers' design charts. In addition, high density fire protection materials, such as concrete, for steel members have also been included in these universal design charts.