• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.491-510
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• 2008

This paper presents a plan and guidelines that were drawn for Korean based research carried out on the fire-resistance of CFT columns. This research was carried out by reviewing the Korean regulations related to the fire-resistance of CFT columns and examining studies which had been made in Korea as well as overseas. The first phase of the study plan was to compare the fire-resistance of square CFT columns without fire protection (obtained through fire-resistance tests and numerical analyses) with estimated values (obtained through fire-resistance design formulas proposed in Korea and overseas). This comparison provided conclusions as outlined below. Fire-resistance tests conducted in this study proved that, when the actual design load is taken into consideration, square CFT columns without fire protection are able to resist a fire for more than one hour. A comparison was made of test and analysis results with the fire-resistance time based on the AIJ code, the AISC design formula and the estimation formula suggested for Korea. The results of this comparison showed that the test and analysis results for specimens SAH1, SAH2-1, SAH2-2 and SAH3 were almost identical with the AIJ code, the AISC design formula and estimation formula. For specimens SAH4 and SAH5, the estimation formula was more conservative than the AIJ code and the AISC design formula. It was necessary to identify the factors that have an influence on the fire-resistance of CFT columns without fire protection and to draw fire-resistance design formulas for these columns. To achieve this, it is proposed that numerical analyses and tests be conducted in order to evaluate the fire-resistance of circular CFT columns, the influence of eccentricity existing as an additional factor and the influence of the slenderness ratio of the columns. It is also suggested that the overall behavior of CFT structures without fire protection within a fire be evaluated through analysis simulation.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.313-325
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• 2018

Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) members are commonly used as composite columns in modern construction. However, the current guidelines for members' fire design (EN1994-1-2) have been proved to be unsafe in case the relative slenderness is higher than 0.5. In addition, the simplified design methods of Eurocode 4 are limited to circular and square CFST columns, while in practice columns with rectangular and elliptical hollow sections are being increasingly used because of their architectural aesthetics. In the last years a large experimental research has been carried out at Coimbra University on the topic. They have been tested concrete filled circular, square, rectangular and elliptical hollow columns with restrained thermal elongation. Some parameters such as the slenderness, the type of cross-section geometry as well as the axial and rotational restraint of the surrounding structure to the column have been tested in order to evaluate their influence on the fire resistance of such columns. In this paper it is evaluated the influence of the boundary conditions (pin-ended and semi-rigid end-support conditions) on the behavior of the columns in case of fire. In these tests it could not be seen a marked effect of the tested boundary conditions but it is believed that the increasing of rotational stiffness increases the fire resistance of the columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.205-227
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• 2013

Current design standards do not provide adequate guidelines for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members subject to flexural-torsional buckling. Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 (2005) recommends the same fire design guidelines for both hot-rolled and cold-formed steel compression members subject to flexural-torsional buckling although considerable behavioural differences exist between cold-formed and hot-rolled steel members. Past research has recommended the use of ambient temperature cold-formed steel design rules for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members provided appropriately reduced mechanical properties are used at elevated temperatures. To assess the accuracy of flexural-torsional buckling design rules in both ambient temperature cold-formed steel design and fire design standards, an experimental study of slender cold-formed steel compression members was undertaken at both ambient and elevated temperatures. This paper presents the details of this experimental study, its results, and their comparison with the predictions from the current design rules. It was found that the current ambient temperature design rules are conservative while the fire design rules are overly conservative. Suitable recommendations have been made in relation to the currently available design rules for flexural-torsional buckling including methods of improvement. Most importantly, this paper has addressed the lack of experimental results for slender cold-formed steel columns at elevated temperatures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.121-139
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• 2021

Ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) encased steel columns are receiving growing interest in high-rise buildings owing to their economic and architectural advantages. However, UHSC encased steel columns are not covered by the modern fire safety design code. A total of 14 fire tests are conducted on UHSC (120 MPa) encased steel columns under constant axial loads and exposed to ISO-834 standard fire. The effect of load ratio, slenderness, stirrup spacing, cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel on the fire resistance and failure mode of the specimens are investigated. The applicability of the tabulated method in EC4 (EN 1994-1-2-2005) and regression formula in Chinese code (DBJ/T 15-81-2011) to fire resistance of UHSC encased steel columns are checked. Generally, the test results reveal that the vertical displacement-heating time curves can be divided into two phases, i.e. thermal expansion and shortening to failure. It is found that the fire resistance of column specimens increases with the increase of the cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel, but decreases with the increase of the load ratio and slenderness. The EC4 method overestimates the fire resistance up to 186% (220 min), while the Chinese code underestimates it down to 49%. The Chinese code has a better agreement than EC4 with the test results since the former considers the effect of the load ratio, slenderness, cross section size directly in its empirical formula. To estimate the fire resistance precisely can improve the economy of structural fire design of ultra-high strength concrete encased steel columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.243-264
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• 2008

This paper details a testing facility ("NATURAL FIRE FACILITY") that allows closely-controlled experimental testing on full-scale sub-frames while reproducing the spatially transient temperature conditions measured in real fires. Using this test facility, an experimental investigation of six steel sub-frames under a natural fire was carried out at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Coimbra. The main objective of these tests was to provide insight into the influence of these connection types on the behaviour of steel sub-structures under fire. The experimental layout is defined by two thermally insulated HEA300 columns and an unprotected IPE300 beam with 5.7 m span, supporting a composite concrete slab. Beam-to-column connections are representative of the most common joint type used on buildings: welded joints and extended, flush and partial depth plate. Finally, the available results are presented and discussed: evolution of the steel temperature; development of displacements and local deformations and failure modes on the joints zone.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.383-401
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• 2024

The research comprehensively studies the axial compression performance of T-shaped concrete-filled thin-walled steel tubular (CTST) long columns after fire exposure. Initially, a series of tests investigate the effects of heating time, load eccentricity, and stiffeners on the column's performance. Furthermore, Finite Element (FE) analysis is employed to establish temperature and mechanical field models for the T-shaped CTST long column with stiffeners after fire exposure, using carefully determined key parameters such as thermal parameters, constitutive relations, and contact models. In addition, a parametric analysis based on the numerical models is conducted to explore the effects of heating time, section diameter, material strength, and steel ratio on the axial compressive bearing capacity, bending bearing capacity under normal temperature, as well as residual bearing capacity after fire exposure. The results reveal that the maximum lateral deformation occurs near the middle of the span, with bending increasing as heating time and eccentricity rise. Despite a decrease in axial compressive load and bending capacity after fire exposure, the columns still exhibit desirable bearing capacity and deformability. Moreover, the obtained FE results align closely with experimental findings, validating the reliability of the developed numerical models. Additionally, this study proposes a simplified design method to calculate these mechanical property parameters, satisfying the ISO-834 standard. The relative errors between the proposed simplified formulas and FE models remain within 10%, indicating their capability to provide a theoretical reference for practical engineering applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.127-145
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• 1999

This paper deals with the development of an approach for evaluating the squash load and rigidity of unprotected concrete filled steel columns at elevated temperatures. The current approach of evaluating these properties is reviewed. It is shown that with a non-uniform temperature distribution, over the composite cross-section, the calculations for the squash load and rigidity are tedious in the current method. A simplified approach is proposed to evaluate the temperature distribution, squash load, and rigidity of composite columns. This approach is based on the model in Eurocode 4 and can conveniently be used to calculate the resistance to axial compression of a concrete filled steel column for any fire resistance time. The accuracy of the proposed approach is assessed by comparing the predicted strengths against the results of fire tests on concrete filled circular and square steel columns. The applicability of the proposed approach to a design situation is illustrated through a numerical example.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.113-116
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• 2009

This study analyzed fire-resistant characteristics according to changes in repair methods of PFH mixed high-strength concrete roof structures having undergone fire damage. The results of the study are as follows. First, as a repulsive characteristics of structures, the remaining repulsion was shown to increase following fire-resistance tests according to increases in depth of coverings. The results of the relationship between depth of coverings and remaining repulsion rates following fire-proofing tests showed a high correlation. At a covering depth of 67.3mm, remaining repulsion rate was estimated to be 100%. For fire-resistant characteristics following repairs of structure, as for spalling, severe separation was shown in the case of general plaster while general plaster + Metal Lath showed overall superior spalling prevention. For internal structure temperatures, general plaster showed max temperatures of 705℃, average temperatures of 636℃ while general plaster + metal lath showed max temperature of 660℃ and average temperature of 520℃, demonstrating lower temperature distributions than use of only general plaster. In conclusion, after removing the covering of structures damaged due to high temperatures of fires within high-strength concrete installations, the use of fire-resistant mortars and applying metal laths on surfaces of general plaster will provide superior fire-resistance performance in the occurrence of a 2nd fire.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.153-168
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• 2003

This paper discusses the results and observations from a large-scale fire test conducted on a slim floor system, comprising asymmetric beams, rectangular hollow section beams and a composite floor slab. The structure was subjected to a fire where the fire load (combustible material) was higher that that found in typical office buildings and the ventilation area was artificially controlled during the test. Although the fire behaviour was not realistic it was designed to follow as closely as possible the time-temperature response used in standard fire tests, which are used to assess individual structural members and forms the bases of current fire design methods. The presented test results are limited, due to the malfunction of the instrumentation measuring the atmosphere and member temperatures. The lack of test data hinders the presentation of definitive conclusions. However, the available data, together with observations from the test, provides for the first time a useful insight into the behaviour of the slim floor system in its entirety. Analysis of the test results show that the behaviour of the beam-to-column connections had a significant impact on the overall structural response of the system, particularly when the end-plate of one of the connections fractured, during the fire.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.473-480
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• 2012

In order to develop an effecive seismic strengthening metghod for existing concrete structure, structural tests of aramid FRP reinforced RC columns are performed. The test variables were strengthening methods of aramid sheet and strip. The test results were evaluated by comparing strength and energy dissipation capacities of non-reinforced and reinforced specimens. The test result comparison showed that aramid sheet reinforcement on RC column was evaluated as the most efficient way to increase strength and energy dissipation capacity.