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Structural Design
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37.1 Introduction
Structural fire safety is one of the three requirements that have to be fulfilled by a fire resistant
construction, whose function is to ensure that a fire in a building is contained within the compartment
of origin so that occupants in other parts of the building can escape to safety and fire damages do not
become excessive. To achieve this, the load bearing structure of a fire resistant construction should
not collapse in fire. The other two fire resistance requirements are
Insulation. The unexposed surface of a fire resistant construction should not be heated excessively
and cause further ignition. Clearly, whether any material will be ignited or not will not only depend
on the temperature of the unexposed surface, but also on its nature and its relative position to the
unexposed surface. Nevertheless, at present, regulations worldwide limit the average temperature
rise on the unexposed surface to 140 C and the maximum local temperature rise to 180 C.
Integrity. Gaps should not develop in fire resistant construction to spread fire.
The practice of dividing a building into a number of compartments bounded by fire resistant
construction is called fire resistant compartmentation. It should be pointed out that fulfillment of the
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above three fire resistance requirements only applies to those elements of construction that are
necessary for the fire resistant compartment to contain fire. Other elements, whose failure to fulfill these
requirements does not lead to a failure of the fire resistant compartment, do not require any fire
safety design consideration. Before the designer commences detailed structural fire safety design
calculations, he should work with the client and the fire service authority to determine the size of the
fire resistant construction. This will depend on factors such as fire regulations on the maximum size
of fire resistant compartmentation, insurance premium, and fire brigade access and is beyond the
scope of this chapter.
Until recently, assessment of fire resistance of a construction is performed experimentally in standard
fire resistance test furnaces and under the standard fire condition. Each country has its own fire
resistance test standard [e.g., ASTM E-119 (ASTM 1985) in the United States, BS 476 (BSI 1987) in
the United Kingdom, and ISO 834 (ISO 1975)], but they are largely similar. The standard fire resistance
test has many shortcomings, for example, high cost, time consuming, limitation of specimen size,
idealized loading condition, idealized support condition, lack of repeatability, and unrealistic fire
exposure. It is now possible to perform some fire resistant design by calculations and the objective of
this chapter is to introduce the reader to structural design calculations to ensure stability of load
bearing members in the event of a fire.
It should be pointed out that the behavior of a complete structure in fire and that of isolated elements
can be different because a complete structure will have characteristics, such as load redistribution,
structural interactions, that will not exist in isolated elements. Also, it is worth noting that current
calculation methods are based on flexural behavior at small deflections. The behavior of structural
elements at large deflections can be vastly different and such a different behavior may be explored to
improve structural fire safety design. Behaviors of elements at large deflections and complete structures
in fire are beyond the scope of this chapter. Interested readers may consult the book by Wang (2002).
In general, design calculations to check structural safety in fire involves three parts:
1. Assessment of the fire severity to which a structural member is exposed. For structural fire safety
design, a fire is usually quantified by a temperature–time relationship of the fire.
2. Evaluation of the temperature field in the structural member under the above fire condition.
3. Calculation of the remaining load carrying capacity of the structural member at elevated
temperatures and comparison with the applied load.
This chapter will introduce the reader to all three aspects of structural fire safety design, while
emphasizing on the third.
It is understandable that the September 11 tragedy has initiated the interest of many engineers in
structural fire safety design. However, it must be mentioned that there had already been great progresses
on this topic well before the September 11 event in many parts of the world, particularly in Europe and
the United Kingdom. At present, there is a systematic and comprehensive coverage of structural fire
safety design methods in Europe, through developments of the so-called Eurocodes. Thus, this chapter
will adopt Eurocodes as the basis of its design guidance. However, it is hoped that there will be sufficient
explanations of the fundamental engineering principles so that the basis of Eurocode design rules can
be similarly adopted in different design environments.
transform very quickly to involve all the combustible materials in the fire enclosure. The transition from
a localized fire to a fire engulfing the entire enclosure is called flashover and the fire at this stage is called a
postflashover fire. At this stage, the combustion gas temperatures are very high and stability of the
building structure may be threatened, the consequence of which can lead to rapid fire spread and loss of
life and property. It is this stage of the fire behavior that will be described below. Interested readers
should consult some excellent textbooks, such as Drysdale (1999) and Karlsson and Quinterie (2000), to
obtain a deep understanding of enclosure fire behavior.
800
Cellulosic curve, Equation 37.1
600
400
200
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Fire exposure time, min
FIGURE 37.1 A comparison of standard cellulosic and hydrocarbon fire temperature–time relationships.
. .
Qlw Qlc
.
Qlw
.
Qlr
. .
Qlg Qlw
FIGURE 37.2 Fully developed enclosure fire, showing various heat losses.
postflashover enclosure fires have been developed. Among them, the so-called parametric temperature–
time curves of Eurocode 1 Part 1.2 (CEN 2000a), based on the results of Pettersson et al. (1976), are
widely accepted. As shown in Figure 37.3, a parametric fire curve has an ascending branch and a
descending branch. The ascending branch is used to describe the temperature–time relationship of a fire
during its growth and steady burning stages, when it is ventilation controlled. The descending branch
describes the decay period of the fire. The ascending branch is expressed by
Tfi ¼ 1325 1 0:324e0:2t 0:204e1:7t 0:472e19t ð37:3Þ
where the modified time t (in hours) is related to the real time t (in hours) by
t ¼ tG ð37:4Þ
in which G is a dimensionless parameter, given by
O 2 1160 2
G¼ ð37:5Þ
0:04 b
In Equation 37.5, O is the ventilation factor defined as
pffiffiffiffiffi
Av hv
O¼ ð37:6Þ
At
in which At is the total enclosure
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (including openings) area.
In Equation 37.5, b ¼ krC [in J/(m2 s1/2 K)] is the overall thermal property of the fire enclosure
lining material. For a fire enclosure constructed of a combination of different lining materials, com-
plicated equations have recently been introduced in Eurocode 1 Part 1.2 (CEN 2000a) to find an
equivalent value of b.
The ascending branch of the fire temperature–time relationship terminates at time (td ) when the
maximum fire temperature is obtained. This time is a function of the fire load in the fire enclosure and
is given by
qt,d G
td ¼ 0:00013 (in hours) ð37:7Þ
O
In Equation 37.7, qt,d is the fire load density (in MJ/m2) related to the total surface area of the fire
enclosure At. Since fire load density is usually specified with regard to the floor area Af, the fire load per
enclosure area qt,d is related to the fire load per floor area (qf,d) using
qt,d ¼ qf ,d Af =At ð37:8Þ
It can be seen that the ascending branch of the fire temperature–time curve is not dependent on the
fire load. This is because a fire is assumed to be ventilation controlled and the rate of heat release is the
Temperature
Tfi,max
td* Time
same, depending only on the ventilation condition. The effect of fire load is to change the duration of
burning td according to Equation 37.7.
For simplicity, the descending branch is given by a straight line. Since structural behavior is only
slightly affected by the descending branch of the fire temperature–time relationship, more complicated
equations for the descending branch are not justified. The rate of the descending branch depends on the
fire duration. The fire temperature during cooling is given by
Tfi ¼ Tfi,max 625ðt td Þ for td
0:5
Tfi ¼ Tfi,max 250ð3 td Þðt td Þ for 0:5 < td < 2:0 ð37:9Þ
Tfi ¼ Tfi,max 250ðt td Þ for td 2:0
In Equation 37.9, Tfi,max is the maximum fire temperature, obtained by substituting the time in
Equation 37.7 into Equation 37.3.
In Eurocode 1 Part 1.2 (CEN 2000a), the limit of application of the above fire temperature–time
relationship is for fire compartments up to 100 m2 in floor area with the maximum compartment
height at 4 m. For larger or taller compartments, the effect of nonuniform temperature distribution
in the fire enclosure cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, simple methods are not available yet.
From previous discussions, it is clear that the fire temperature–time relationship depends on the
amount of combustible materials (or fuel load) in a fire enclosure, the ventilation condition, and thermal
properties of the fire enclosure lining material. During a design, the ventilation condition and thermal
properties of the fire enclosure lining material may be estimated from construction details, that is,
the window size and construction materials. Thermal properties of some enclosure lining materials
may be found in Table 37.1.
The design fire load is building specific. However, since the exact type and amount of combustible
materials will not be known during the design stage, it is unlikely that the design fire load can be known
with any certainty. In fire engineering design calculations, it is common to specify a generic fire load for a
type of building, depending on its proposed use. This is similar to specifying a general structural load for
structural design at ambient temperature. Values in Table 37.2 may be used as a guide. More detailed
information on fire load may be obtained from a Conseil International du Batiment (CIB) report (CIB
1986). It is important to point out that there are many uncertainties about the design fire load. When
conducting a fire engineering design, the designer should perform a sensitivity study to investigate the
consequence of adopting a range of possible fire loads.
EXAMPLE 37.1
Natural fire exposure
Figure 37.4 shows the dimensions and other design data of a fire enclosure. Evaluate the postflashover
fire temperature–time curve inside the enclosure.
Source: Lawson, R.M. and Newman, G.M., 1996, Structural Fire Design to EC3 & EC4, and Comparison With BS 5950,
Technical Report, SCI Publication 159, The Steel Construction Institute.
Source: British Standards Institution (BSI), 2001, Draft BS 9999, Code of Practice for Fire Safety in the
Design, Construction and Use of Buildings (London: British Standards Institution).
6m
Calculation results
Floor area: Af ¼ 54 m2
Total enclosure area: At ¼ 228 m2
Design fire load density per m2 enclosure area: qt,d ¼ 720 54/228 ¼ 170.5 MJ/m2
Window area: Av ¼ 9 m2 pffiffiffiffiffiffi
9 1:5
Opening factor: O ¼ ¼ 0:04835 m1=2
228
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Lining property: b ¼ 1600 0:8 1200 ¼ 1239:4 J=ðm2 s1=2 KÞ
0:04835 2 1160 2
Equation 37.5 gives G ¼ ¼ 1:28
0:04 1239:4
170:5 1:28
Equation 37.7 gives td ¼ 0:00013 ¼ 0:587 h
0:04835
Equation 37.3 gives Tfi,max ¼ 844 þ 20 ¼ 864 C
The real time at the maximum fire temperature td ¼ 0.587/1.28 ¼ 0.458 h
For the cooling part, Equation 37.9 will be used, giving the time t necessary to reach the ambient
temperature as t ¼ 1.937 h. The real time is 1.937/1.28 ¼ 1.5136 h.
Figure 37.5 plots the complete fire temperature–time relationship.
900
Fire, temperature,
800 Example 37.1
700
Example 37.3
500
400
Protected steel,
300 Example 37.4
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Fire exposure time, min
37.3.1 Conduction
The basic equation for one-dimensional heat conduction is Fourier’s law of heat conduction. It is
expressed as
dT
Q_ ¼ k ð37:10Þ
dx
where, refering to Figure 37.6, dT is the temperature difference across an infinitesimal thickness dx. Q_ is
the rate of heat transfer (heat flux) across the material thickness. The minus sign in Equation 37.10
indicates that heat flows from the higher temperature side to the lower temperature side.
Unit
area
.
Q = – k dT
dx
x x + dx
(T ) (T + dT )
Unit
area
.
Q = – k ∆T
∆x
∆x
x x + ∆x
(T ) (T + ∆T )
T1 T2
The constant of proportionality k is the thermal conductivity of the material. In many practical
applications of fire safety engineering, the material thermal conductivity within the relevant temperature
range may be approximated as a constant. Thus, Equation 37.10 may be replaced by its finite difference
equivalent
T2 T1 Dx
Q_ ¼ k or T1 T2 ¼ Q_ ð37:11Þ
Dx k
where, refering to Figure 37.7, T1 and T2 are temperatures at the two sides of a material and Dx is the
material thickness. Dx/k expresses the thermal resistance of the material.
37.3.2 Convection
Heat convection and radiation are considered at the interface between a structural member and the fire
or the ambient temperature air. When applying thermal boundary conditions, it is often assumed that
the heat exchange between the fluid and the structural surface is related to the temperature difference at
the interface. Therefore, on the fire side from fire to structural surface
Q_ ¼ hfi ðTfi Ts Þ ð37:12Þ
On the ambient temperature air side from structural surface to the ambient temperature air
Q_ ¼ ha ðTs Ta Þ ð37:13Þ
where Tfi and Ta are the fire and air temperatures, respectively and Ts is the structural surface
temperature.
Quantities hfi and ha are the overall heat exchange coefficients on the fire and air side, respectively.
Depending on the relationship between the fire/air and the structural surface, the heat exchange
coefficients (hfi and ha) may only contain the convective component (hc), the radiant component (hr),
or both.
The convective heat transfer coefficient depends on many factors. However, for structural fire
applications, the structural temperatures are relatively insensitive to its exact values. Eurocode 1 Part 1.2
(CEN 2000a) recommends constant convective heat transfer coefficients as follows: on the fire side,
hc ¼ 25 W/m2 and on the air side, hc ¼ 10 W/m2.
37.3.3 Radiation
If a structural surface is in direct contact with fire/air, radiant heat transfer between the structural
surface and the fire/air may be assumed to occur between two very large parallel plates of area A, whose
distance apart is small compared with the size of the plates so that radiation at their edges is negligible.
Under this circumstance and assuming graybody radiant heat transfer, the radiant heat exchange
coefficient is
where s is the Stefan–Boltzmann coefficient (¼ 5.876 108 W/(m K4)) and er is often referred to as the
resultant emissivity given by
1 e1 e2
er ¼ ¼ ð37:15Þ
1=e1 þ 1=e2 1 e1 þ e2 e1 e2
in which e1 and e2 are the graybody emissivities of the two surfaces, that is, that of the structural surface
and fire/air, respectively.
where V and As are the volume and exposed surface area of the steel element, respectively, rs is the
density of steel, and Cs is the specific heat of steel. The ratio As/V in Equation 37.16 is often referred to
as the section factor of the steel element. Tfi and Ts are the fire and steel temperatures, respectively. h is
the total heat transfer coefficient between the fire and the steel surface, including both the convective
and radiant components. When using Equation 37.16, a step-by-step approach is necessary and the
time increment should be small (Dt < 5 s).
EXAMPLE 37.2
Section factor
Calculate the section factor (Hp/A) for the two cases shown in Figure 37.8.
Calculation results
Case 1, Figure 37.8a
Hp ¼ 2 400 þ 150 3 2 10 ¼ 1230 mm,
A ¼ 2 15 150 þ ð400 15 2Þ10 ¼ 8200 mm2
Hp =A ¼ 0:15 mm1 ¼ 150 m1
Case 2, Figure 37.8b
Hp ¼ 2pRo ¼ 300p, A ¼ pðRo 2 Ri 2 Þ ¼ 2900p
1
Hp =A ¼ 0:1034 mm ¼ 103:4 m1
2ð2B tw þ D Þ
Unprotected steel section exposed to fire exposure around all sides
As
2ðB þ D Þ
Fire exposure on all sides of board protection
As
2ðB tw Þ þ B þ 2D
Fire protection on three sides: profile protection
As
2D þ B
Fire protection on three sides: board protection
As
(a) (b)
Concrete slab
15 Ri = 140
10
Ro = 150
400
150
EXAMPLE 37.3
Temperatures in unprotected steelwork
For the cross-section in Example 37.2, case 1, calculate the unprotected steel temperature under the
natural fire condition evaluated in Example 37.1. For steel, assume a constant density of 7850 kg/m3
and a constant specific heat of 650 J/(kg K). Also, assume a constant resultant emissivity of 0.5 and
a convective heat transfer coefficient of 25 W/(m2 K).
Calculation results
The calculations are performed for intervals of 5 s and results of only the first time increment are shown.
Equation 37.15 gives hr ¼ 2.95 W/(m2 K). The total heat transfer coefficient is 27.95 W/(m2 K).
After a time increment of Dt ¼ 5 s, Equation 37.3 in Example 37.1 gives a fire temperature of
41.74 C. The steel temperature is 20 C. The section factor from case 1 of Example 37.2 is 150 m1.
Equation 37.17 gives DTs ¼ 0.0616 C. Thus, the steel temperature after 5 s is 20.0616 C.
Figure 37.5 plots the unprotected steel temperature development. The maximum steel temperature is
829.25 C, reached just after 30 min.
EXAMPLE 37.4
Temperatures in protected steelwork
For the cross-section in case 2 of Example 37.2, calculate the protected steel temperature under
the natural fire condition obtained in Example 37.1. Fire protection is by sprayed lightweight concrete
whose thermal properties are given in Table 37.1. Assume the same steel thermal properties as in
Example 37.3.
Calculation results
The calculations are performed for intervals of 5 s and results of only the first time increment are shown.
Equation 37.17 gives f ¼ 1.129 and DTs ¼ 2.54 C. As pointed out in Section 37.3.4, this negative
number should be changed to 0.
Figure 37.5 plots the protected steel temperature development. The maximum steel temperature is
602.58 C, reached at 51.25 min.
design guide to assess the acceptable extent of damage to fire protection materials. In the light of this, the
designer has to ensure that any damage to the fire protection material is repaired.
The structural fire safety design criterion is the same as at ambient temperature, that is, the residual
load carrying capacity of a structural member should not be lower than the applied load under the fire
condition.
e
ep,T eET
rhffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
b 2 i
ep,T < e < ey,T fp,T cþ a2 ey,T e
a
ey,T
e
et,T fy,T
fp,T
Parameters ep,T ¼ , ey,T ¼ 0.02, et,T ¼ 0.15
ET
c
Functions a2 ¼ ey,T ep,T ey,T ep,T þ
ET
2
2
b ¼ c ey,T ep,T ET þ c
2
fy,T fp,T
c¼
ey,T ep,T ET 2 fy,T fp,T
Stress
fy,T
fp,T
ET
In simple calculations, the coefficient of thermal expansion of steel may be assumed to be a constant
so that the incremental thermal expansion strain is given by
eth ¼ 14 105 DT
37.4.2.2 Concrete
37.4.2.2.1 Thermal Strains
The thermal strain of concrete is complex and is influenced by a number of factors. According to
Anderberg and Thelandersson (1976) and Khoury and coworkers (Khoury 1983; Khoury et al. 1986), the
thermal strain of concrete may be divided into thermal expansion strain, creep strain, and a stress
induced transient thermal strain. Interested readers should refer to the above references for more
Stress
c,T
fc,T A
Equation 37.19
B
cu,T crush,T Strain c,T
detailed information on how to evaluate these different strain components. Eurocode 4 (CEN 2001)
takes a simple approach and gives the coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete as
eth ¼ 1:8 104 þ 9 106 T þ 2:3 1011 T 3 for 20 C
T
700 C;
eth ¼ 0:0014 for T > 700 C:
where sc,T, ec,T, fc,T, ecu,T, are, respectively, the stress, strain, peak stress, and strain at peak stress for
concrete at elevated temperature T.
From Equation 37.18, the initial Young’s modulus of concrete may be obtained from
3 fc,T
Ec,T ¼ ð37:19Þ
2 ecu,T
The descending part is a straight line, joining the peak point (A) with the point of concrete crush (B)
in Figure 37.10.
Values of fc,T, ecu,T, and ecrush,T, are required to determine the complete stress–strain relationship
of concrete at elevated temperatures. Table 37.6 gives their values recommended by Eurocode 4
(CEN 2001). This table also gives the retention factors for modulus of elasticity.
TABLE 37.6 Strength, Strain Limits, and Elastic Modulus of Normal Weight Concrete (NWC) and
Lightweight Concrete (LWT) at Elevated Temperatures
kc,T ¼ fc,T /fc,a kE,T ¼ ET/Ea
3 3
Temperature NWC LWC ecu,T 10 ecrush,T 10 NWC LWC
20 1 1 2.5 20.0 1 1
100 0.95 1 3.5 22.5 0.844 0.889
200 0.9 1 4.5 25.0 0.72 0.8
300 0.85 1 6.0 27.5 0.618 0.727
400 0.75 0.88 7.5 30.0 0.5 0.587
500 0.60 0.76 9.5 32.5 0.369 0.468
600 0.45 0.64 12.5 35.0 0.257 0.366
700 0.30 0.52 14.0 37.5 0.16 0.277
800 0.15 0.4 14.5 40.0 0.075 0.2
900 0.08 0.28 15.0 42.5 0.038 0.132
1000 0.04 0.16 15.0 45.0 0.018 0.071
1100 0.01 0.04 15.0 47.5 0 0.017
1200 0.0 0.0 15.0 50.0 0 0
Source: European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), 2001, prEN 1994-1-2, Eurocode 4: Design of Composite Steel
and Concrete Structures, Part 1.2: Structural Fire Design (London: British Standards Institution).
temperature, lateral torsional buckling of a steel beam is usually not a problem in fire. This is because
steel beams that are required to have fire resistance are floor beams whose compression flanges are
restrained by the floor slabs. Steel beams that should be checked for lateral torsional buckling at ambient
temperature, for example, roof beams, do not require fire resistance. Therefore, the following design
method will only consider the cross-sectional bending resistance of a beam.
Eurocode 3 gives two methods to calculate the plastic bending moment capacity of a steel beam.
The first method is the bending moment capacity method that is generally applicable to cross-sections
with nonuniform temperature distributions. In this method, the steel cross-section is divided into
a number of thin slices of approximately the same temperature. The plastic bending moment capacity
of the cross-section is calculated according to the reduced strengths of steel at the temperatures of
these slices.
EXAMPLE 37.5
Plastic bending moment capacity of a nonuniformly heated steel beam
An example is given in Table 37.7 to illustrate this method. Input information for this example are
shown in Figure 37.11.
As can be seen, the plastic bending moment capacity method requires many calculations. Hence, the
only benefit of using this more elaborate method is to explore possible benefits of nonuniform tem-
perature distribution in the cross-section of a beam, particularly to justify the use of unprotected
steelwork.
Instead of using the plastic bending moment method, Eurocode 3 also gives an alternative method that
is much simpler to use. In this simple method, the plastic bending moment capacity of a beam is given by
Mp,fi ¼ ky,T Mp =k1 ð37:20Þ
where Mp is the plastic bending moment capacity of the cross-section at ambient temperature; ky,T is the
retention factor for the effective yield strength of steel at the maximum temperature in the lower flange.
Thus, ky,TMp gives the reduced plastic bending moment capacity of the cross-section at a uniform
temperature T. The modification factor k1 is used to account for nonuniform temperature distribution
in the cross-section and k1 ¼ 0.7. For the above example, ky,TMp ¼ 137.5 kN m. Using Equation 37.20
gives a value of 196.5 kN m, which is close to that obtained using the more time-consuming plastic
bending moment capacity method.
16
T
di
PNA
Ti Fi
412.8
9.5
179.5 Tension
FIGURE 37.11 Input data for calculations in Table 37.7: (a) dimensions (mm), (b) temperature distribution, and
(c) cross-section layers.
where Pu,fi is the column squash load at elevated temperature T and is calculated from
Pu,fi ¼ As ky,T , fy ð37:22Þ
wfi is the column strength reduction factor to account for the column slenderness effect and is given by
1 1 fi þ l
2
wfi ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi , with ffi ¼ 1 þ al fi ð37:23Þ
f þ f2 l2 2
fi fi fi
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
where a is an imperfection factor, a ¼ 0:65 fy =235.
The column slenderness in fire lfi is calculated using
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
fi ¼ l
l k y ,T ð37:24Þ
kE,T
where
l is the column slenderness at ambient temperature.
l is defined as
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
¼ l fy , with l ¼ Le
l ð37:25Þ
p2 E ry
where Le and ry are the column buckling length and radius of gyration of the column cross-section about
the relevant axis of buckling.
The Steel Construction Institute in the United Kingdom has developed a design guide (Newman 1990)
for portal frames in fire. Using this guide, portal frames are usually designed without fire protection.
M– ,fi M– ,fi
L L L
1 1 M2
Mþ,fi þ M,fi ¼ wL2 þ 2 ,fi ð37:27Þ
2 8 2L w
or approximately
1
Mþ,fi þ 0:45M,fi wL2 ð37:28Þ
8
In order to determine the slab load carrying capacity in fire, the sagging bending moment capacity
M þ,fi and hogging bending moment capacity M ,fi should be evaluated.
When calculating the sagging bending moment capacity of a slab, the reinforcement near the fire side
is in tension and the compressive concrete is on the unexposed side of the slab. Since the temperature
rise on the unexposed side of the slab is required to be below 140 C to fulfill the insulation requirement,
the concrete in compression can be assumed to be cold and its cold strength may be used when
calculating the sagging bending moment capacity of the slab. Contributions from the steel decking are
usually ignored because the decking will be unprotected and may debond because it is under direct fire
attack. Figure 37.13 shows the calculation procedure. In Figure 37.13, fc is the design strength of concrete
in bending at ambient temperature, Ar, py,r, and ky,r(T ) are the area, design strength at ambient
temperature, and strength retention factor of the reinforcement at temperature T, and ky,r(T ) may be
obtained from Figure 37.14.
Under a hogging bending moment, the compression face of a composite slab is exposed to fire where
there is a very steep temperature gradient. When calculating the hogging bending moment capacity, the
composite slab, including the concrete in the ribs, should be divided into a number of layers each of
approximately constant temperature. The contribution of each layer should be evaluated separately and
then integrated to give the total slab resistance.
fc
dc C = Fr
D M+,fi = Fr × d
d = D – 0.5 × dc = D – 0.5 × Fr /f c
Fr = Ar × ky,r(T) × fy,r
1
0.9
0.8
Effective yield strength
Retention factor
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3 Elastic modulus
0.2
0.1
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Temperature, °C
FIGURE 37.14 Retention factors of cold worked reinforcing steel (from European Committee for Standardisation
(CEN), 2001, prEN 1994-1-2, Eurocode 4: Design of Composite steel and Concrete Structures, Part 1.2: Structural Fire
Design (London: British Standards Institution)).
is unprotected, the steel section will have a nonuniform temperature distribution. For temperature
calculations, the steel section may approximately be divided into two parts: the upper flange and the
lower flange plus the web.
EXAMPLE 37.6
Plastic bending moment capacity of a composite cross-section
Figure 37.15 shows a composite cross-section exposed to fire underneath the slab. The steel section is
unprotected and fire exposure is according to the temperature–time relationship in Example 37.1.
At ambient temperature, the design strength of steel is 275 N/mm2 and the design compression strength
of concrete is 20 N/mm2. Calculate the minimum sagging bending moment capacity of the composite
cross-section in fire.
Calculation results
According to the dimensions in Figure 37.15, the section factor of the top flange is 80 m1 and that of
the web/bottom flange is 147 m1.
Following calculations in Example 37.2, the maximum top flange temperature is 802.8 C reached at
32.25 min and the maximum lower flange/web temperature is 847.2 C reached at 28.75 min. It is
interesting to notice that under natural fire exposure, different parts of a structural member will reach
their maximum temperatures at different times. Therefore, in theory, calculations of the plastic bending
moment capacity of the cross-section should be performed as a function of time. For simplicity, in this
example, the maximum temperatures of the top flange and bottom flange/web, attained at different
times, are used.
From Table 37.5, the residual steel strengths and tensile capacity of the steel cross-section are
Top flange: fy ¼ 0.1086 275 ¼ 29.9 N/mm2, As ¼ 2250 mm2, Nuf ¼ 67.3 kN
Bottom flange/web: fy ¼ 0.08639 275 ¼ 23.76 N/mm2
The lower flange tension resistance: Nlf ¼ 53.5 kN
The web area is 3700 mm2, giving the web tension resistance: Nwf ¼ 87.9 kN
The total tensile resistance of the steel cross-section: Ns ¼ Nuf þ Nwf þ Nlf ¼ 208.7
Assume the top of the concrete slab is cold. The depth of concrete in compression is 208.7 1000/
(20 2000) ¼ 5.22 mm.
2000
15
10
400
150 15
Units in mm
Taking moment about the top surface of the slab, the residual sagging bending moment capacity of the
composite cross-section is
Mf ¼ ½208:7 5:22=2 þ 67:3 ð130 þ 15=2Þ þ 87:9 ð130 þ 400=2Þ
þ 53:5 ð130 þ 400 15=2Þ=1000
¼ 65:7 kN m
where fi is the design strength of the ith layer and subscripts ‘‘c,’’ ‘‘s,’’ and ‘‘r’’ represent concrete,
steel, and reinforcement, respectively. Due to nonuniform temperature distribution, each component
of the composite cross-section is divided into a number of layers of approximately the same temperature.
Similarly, the rigidity (EI ) of the composite cross-section is calculated using the following equation:
X X X
ðEIÞfi ¼ ðEIÞi,s þ 0:8ðEIÞi,c þ ðEIÞi,r ð37:30Þ
where symbols E and I are the initial modulus of elasticity and second moment of area of the
appropriate component material about the relevant axis of buckling of the entire composite cross-
section, respectively.
The composite column compression resistance in fire is given by
w
Pc,fi ¼ fi Pu,fi ð37:31Þ
1:2
where the compression strength reduction factor in fire is calculated by
1 h 2
i
wfi ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi with ffi ¼ 0:5 1 þ a lfi 0:2 þ lfi ð37:32Þ
ffi þ f2fi l2fi
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Depth from bottom of the slab x, mm
FIGURE 37.16 Temperatures of a concrete slab exposed to the standard fire from underneath (from European
Committee for Standardisation (CEN), 2001, prEN 1994-1-2, Eurocode 4: Design of Composite steel and Concrete
Structures, Part 1.2: Structural Fire Design (London: British Standards Institution)).
Source: Lawson, R.M. and Newman, G.M., 1996, Structural fire design to EC3 & EC4, and comparison with BS 5950,
Technical Report, SCI Publication 159, The Steel Construction Institute.
where FR is the fire resistance rating in minutes and t is the thickness of the steel shell in mm. The
concrete temperature is calculated by
Tc ¼ C1 C2 Tslab ð37:37Þ
where C1 is a multiplication factor depending on the composite section size and location of the
concrete (and is independent of the standard fire resistance time) and Tslab is the temperature in an
infinitely wide concrete slab exposed to fire on one side (given in Figure 37.16). Values of C1 are given in
Table 37.8.
If reinforcement is used, the reinforcement temperature should be taken as that of the concrete at the
same location. Furthermore, for reinforcement in the corners of a square section, due to heating from
two sides of the composite section, the reinforcement temperature should be calculated from an
equivalent depth of half the concrete cover depth.
EXAMPLE 37.7
Compression resistance of a composite column
Figure 37.17 shows the dimensions of a concrete filled circular steel section. The effective length of the
column is 4 m. Calculate the column compression resistance for a standard fire resistance period of
60 min. At ambient temperature, steel has a design strength of 275 N/mm2 and Young’s modulus
of 205,000 N/mm2. Concrete has a design compression strength of 40 N/mm2 and modulus of elasticity
of 20,000 N/mm2.
Concrete
inside
Calculation results
Divide the composite cross-section into steel tube, three concrete rings of equal thickness of 20 mm, and
a concrete core of 70 mm radius. Table 37.9 gives, for each zone of the composite cross-section, tem-
perature (in C, calculated using Equations 37.35–37.37), area (mm2), second moment of area about a
principle axis of the entire cross-section (cm4), reduced design strength (in N/mm2), and Young’s
modulus (in N/mm2, from Table 37.5 for steel and Table 37.6 for concrete) at elevated temperatures,
compression resistance (in kN) and rigidity (EI, in kN m2).
Equation 37.29 gives Pu,fi ¼ 2509.6 kN. Equation 37.34 gives the Euler buckling load in fire
Pcr,fi ¼ 5226.1 kN, giving a column slenderness in fire
lfi ¼ 0:7885. Equation 37.32 gives wfi ¼ 0.563 and
Equation 37.31 gives the column compression resistance in fire Pc,fi ¼ 1413 kN.
37.4.4.3.3 High Strength Concrete Filled Columns
With the introduction of high strength concrete, the load carrying capacity of a concrete filled column
can be further enhanced. However, the increase in fire resistance is relatively small because high strength
concrete loses its strength at a much lower temperature than normal strength concrete. By adding a small
amount of steel fibre to the concrete, the elevated temperature performance of high strength concrete
can be much improved and the performance of fibre reinforced high strength concrete filled steel
columns is similar to that with normal strength concrete filling (Kodur and Wang 2001). Provided the
strength and stiffness retention factors are available, Equations 37.29 and 37.30 can also be used.
eliminate fire protection to steelwork is an equally strong incentive to carry out these studies. Fire
protection to steelwork can represent a significant part of the total steel structural cost and the elim-
ination of fire protection to steelwork represents a significant saving in construction cost to the client.
But more importantly, by reducing the use of fire protection, steel becomes more competitive and the
steel industry can benefit from an increased market share. After the September 11 event, it is also
appropriate to consider using unprotected steelwork in fire situations for safety. Without fire protection,
there would be no problem related to possible unreliable use of fire protection materials.
There are a number of ways of designing for unprotected steelwork, including risk assessment to
reduce the requirement of fire resistance, using the so-called fire resistant steel (Sakumoto 1998) to
increase the strength of steel at elevated temperatures, over-design steel elements at ambient temperature
so as to increase their reserve of strength in fire, integrating the functions of fire protection and structural
load bearing of concrete, and utilizing advanced structural behavior. Wang and Kodur (2000) provide
a summary of these techniques. This section will give a brief introduction to the last two methods
because they can be readily implemented in practice.
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
FIGURE 37.18 Steel/composite beams of high fire resistance: (a) slim floor beam, (b) asymmetrical beam, (c) shelf
angle beam, and (d) partially encased steel beam.
web of the steel section is protected by the concrete and provides the majority of the bending
resistance of the steel beam at elevated temperatures. Only the steel section is assumed to have
load carrying capacity, but lateral torsional buckling is prevented by the concrete slabs.
2. Shelf angle beams, shown in Figure 37.18c. In this system, steel angles are welded to the web of a
steel beam and these angles are used to support precast concrete floor units. This system is
mainly used to reduce the structural depth of the floor. Since the angles, the upper flange, and the
upper portion of the web of the steel section are shielded from fire exposure, 60 min of fire
resistance can be achieved using this system without fire protection.
3. Partially encased beams, shown in Figure 37.18d. By casting concrete in between the flanges of a
regular universal beam section, only the downward side of the lower flange will be exposed to
fire. Both the web and the upper flange are shielded from fire exposure and can provide high
structural resistance. Composite floor slabs may be connected to the top of the partially encased
steel beam via shear connectors to obtain composite action. Since concrete is cast between
flanges of the steel section, no temporary formwork is necessary. By using reinforcement,
standard fire resistance of up to 3 h can be obtained without fire protection to the steelwork.
Table 37.10 summarizes the standard fire resistance rating that can be achieved by different types of
unprotected steel beams.
37.5.1.2 Columns
Three types of unprotected columns may be used:
1. Columns with blocked-in webs as shown in Figure 37.19a. In this construction, lightweight
aerated concrete blocks are placed between the flanges of a universal steel section. The aerated
concrete blocks not only provide good insulation to the column web, they also reduce the
average column flange temperature compared to a bare steel column. A standard fire resistance
rating of 30 min can be achieved without additional fire protection.
2. Partially encased steel columns with unreinforced and reinforced concrete as shown in Figure
37.19b. In a column with blocked-in web, the lightweight aerated concrete only provides
insulation to the steel section and the system cannot provide 60 min fire resistance. If normal
Source: Bailey, C.G. and Newman, G.N., 1998, The design of steel framed
building without applied fire protection, The Structural Engineer, 76(5), 77–81.
FIGURE 37.19 Steel/composite columns of high fire resistance: (a) blocked-in web, (b) partially encased, and
(c) concrete filled.
Source: Bailey, C.G. and Newman, G.N., 1998, The design of steel framed building
without applied fire protection, The Structural Engineer, 76(5), 77–81.
strength concrete is used to provide composite action, much higher fire resistance can be
obtained. If unreinforced concrete is used, 60 min of fire resistance can be obtained.
Reinforcement may be used to give much higher fire resistance.
3. Concrete filled hollow steel sections as shown in Figure 37.19c. Concrete filling of hollow steel
sections is a very practical solution to form composite columns. Either unreinforced or
reinforced concrete may be used. This type of column has been described in some detail in
Section 37.4.4.3. To summarize, unreinforced concrete filled columns can achieve 60 min of fire
resistance. If reinforcement is used, much higher fire resistance may be obtained.
To summarize, Table 37.11 gives the standard fire resistance time that can be achieved by different
types of unprotected columns.
The usefulness of Table 37.10 and Table 37.11 is to enable readers to reach a decision quickly on the
form of construction to achieve the required standard fire resistance without fire protection.
(a)
Load path
Slabs ⇒ secondary beams
Secondary beams ⇒ primary beams
Primary beams ⇒ columns
(b)
Load path
Slabs (two way) ⇒ edge beams
Edge beams ⇒ columns
FIGURE 37.20 An example of alternative load paths in a structure: (a) load path of ambient temperature and
(b) possible load path in fire.
At ambient temperature (Figure 37.20a), the secondary beams are needed to control excessive slab
deflections. Under fire conditions, applied floor loads are reduced and large slab deflections are
permissible. Thus, failure of some secondary beams is permissible provided a sufficient network of
beams remain available to keep transfer the slab load to the columns. A possible system of this type is
shown in Figure 37.20b. In Figure 37.20b, fire protection for the dotted secondary beams is not required.
Of course, the design load carrying capacity of the slab can be further increased even to bypass some
main steel beams.
provided to illustrate the applications of various specific recommendations. There have been tre-
mendous advances in fire safety design of steel and composite steel/concrete structures such that these
types of structures are now increasingly being fire engineered to improve design. However, there are still
large scopes for research and development in structural fire safety, especially with regard to other types of
structures, such as concrete, timber, masonry. It is hoped that this chapter will arouse the interest of the
reader in this subject. Structural fire safety design is a relatively new and evolving subject. It is expected
that future editions of this chapter will provide more comprehensive coverage of this important topic of
structural engineering.
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Appendix
WWW Sites
Nowadays the internet can provide a rich source of information on everything. There are many web
sites that give information on fire related topics. The following web sites are well-known organizations
that have a interest in the topic of this chapter, structural fire engineering. They are divided into three
groups: government and research organizations whose main functions are legislation, research, and
dissemination; academic institutions whose main functions are research and education; and industrial
companies that are involved in research and development to some extent, but whose main interest is
in the application of fire engineering in practical projects. It is inevitable that this list is biased toward
U.K. organizations.