A Collective Undergraduate Class Project Reconstructing The September 11, 2001 World Trade Center Fire

Fire Protection Engineering undergraduate students enrolled in a fire assessment laboratory course conducted their own investigation of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center disaster by simulating the fire that followed the aircraft impact. The project focused on characterizing the fire on the 96 floor of WTC1 (North Tower) and evaluating the contribution of the fire to the structural collapse. Students contacted vendors and suppliers for the World Trade Center to get information regarding construction details and fire properties of building materials and furnishings. Students also obtained information reported from the National Institute of Standards and Technology Building and Fire Research Laboratory investigation of the World Trade Center collapse. A 1/20 scale model of the original structure (including damage effects from the aircraft and liquid fuel dispersed from the aircraft impact) was designed, constructed, and instrumented over ten weeks corresponding to the last half of the semester. Students held briefing for invited guests from the university, government agencies and industry prior to the actual scale model test. Results from the test were recorded continuously with video and with an automated data acquisition system for detailed analysis. Analysis of the results in the scaled spatial and temporal coordinates provided insight into peak temperatures, smoke production rates, and fire growth behavior that may have occurred in the actual WTC1 fire. This classroom study provided an excellent opportunity for students to apply classroom principles to a problem of significant social and engineering relevance.