Revisiting Forgotten Fire Tests: Causal Inference and Counterfactuals for Learning Idealized Fire-Induced Response of RC Columns


Naser M., ÖZYÜKSEL ÇİFTÇİOĞLU A.

Fire Technology, cilt.59, sa.4, ss.1761-1788, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 59 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1007/s10694-023-01405-8
  • Dergi Adı: Fire Technology
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ABI/INFORM, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Compendex, Computer & Applied Sciences, Environment Index, ICONDA Bibliographic, INSPEC, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1761-1788
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Causal inference, Fire response, Fire tests, Reinforced concrete columns
  • Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The expensive nature and unique facilities required for fire testing make it difficult to conduct comprehensive experimental campaigns. As such, engineers can often afford to test a small number of specimens. This complicates attaining a proper inference, especially when addressing questions in the form of what would have been the fire response of a particular specimen had it been twice as large? Or had it been made from a different material grade? In hindsight, answering causal and hypothetical (counterfactual) questions goes beyond the capacity of statistical and machine learning methods which were built to address observational data. To overcome the above challenges, this paper presents a causal approach to answering such questions. In this approach, principles of causal inference are adopted to reconstruct the deformation-time history of reinforced concrete (RC) columns and propose an idealized fire response for these columns. The findings of this study indicate the significant influence of the loading level, aggregate type, and longitudinal steel ratio on the deformation history of fire-exposed RC columns.