• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.127-138
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• 2024

In this paper, structural behavior under fire conditions is comprehensively examined, and a novel software interface for testing interfaces efficiently is developed and validated. In order to accurately assess the response of structures to fire scenarios, advanced simulation techniques and modeling approaches are incorporated into the study. This interface enables accurate heat transfer analysis and thermo-mechanical simulations by integrating software tools such as CSI ETABS, CSI SAP2000, and OpenSees. Heat transfer models can be automatically generated, simulation outputs processed, and structural responses interpreted under a variety of fire scenarios using the proposed technique. As a result of rigorous testing and validation against established methods, including Cardington tests on scales and hybrid simulation approaches, the software interface has been proven to be effective and accurate. The analysis process is streamlined by this interface, providing engineers and researchers with a robust tool for assessing structural performance under fire conditions.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.251-263
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• 2021

Fire safety engineering is a critical specialization to include in the design of a tall building yet is often excluded from the Building Information Model (BIM) and integrated design process. The design of fire safety systems is interdependent with building/structural geometry, HVAC, mechanical, and electrical systems. A BIM is a 3D visual representation that stores data on these kinds of systems. The compatibility between BIM and fire safety design seems obvious yet has received a dearth of attention in structural (fire) engineering literature. The authors herein have reviewed over 40 recent papers on utilizing BIM for fire safety engineering, focusing on contemporary literature to obtain a more up-to-date review of the state-of-the-art. The resulting trends, technologies, research gaps, and methodologies are presented in this paper. Adoption of BIM in fire safety engineering is slow and behind other disciplines which may be improved if research involved more industry partners. For BIM technology to reach its potential, industry manufacturers need to provide high LOD fire BIM objects, fire engineers and researchers need to collaborate on future advancements, and building owners/management need to be educated on how to use the benefits provided.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.815-829
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• 2012

This paper proposes a nonlinear computational modeling approach for the behaviors of structural systems subjected to fire. The proposed modeling approach consists of fire dynamics analysis, nonlinear transient-heat transfer analysis for predicting thermal distributions, and thermomechanical analysis for structural behaviors. For concretes, transient heat formulations are written considering temperature dependent heat conduction and specific heat capacity and included within the thermomechanical analyses. Also, temperature dependent stress-strain behaviors including compression hardening and tension softening effects are implemented within the analyses. The proposed modeling technique for transient heat and thermomechanical analyses is first validated with experimental data of reinforced concrete (RC) beams subjected to high temperatures, and then applied to a bridge model. The bridge model is generated to simulate the fire incident occurred by a gas truck on April 29, 2007 in Oakland California, USA. From the simulation, not only temperature distributions and deformations of the bridge can be found, but critical locations and time frame where collapse occurs can be predicted. The analytical results from the simulation are qualitatively compared with the real incident and show good agreements.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.125-132
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• 1998

In this study the fire, due to overturning of oil tanker on the bridge induced heat transfer analysis and thermal stress analysis are carried out. The results of analysis for fire history of 1 hour present very large thermal gradient near the surface. However, the temperature increase of tendon & rebar that is the main resistant member of bridge is not sufficient to change material properties. The Von-Mises yield criteria is used to calculate the depth of delamination, The depth of delamination is about 4cm at center of fire and this value is close to measured value.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.371-384
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• 2023

Precast roofing systems employing prestressed elements often serve as smart structural solutions for the construction of industrial buildings. The precast concrete elements usually employed are highly engineered, and often consist in thin-walled members, characterised by a complex behaviour in fire. The present study was carried out after a fire event damaged a precast industrial building made with prestressed beam and roof elements, and non-prestressed curved barrel vault elements interposed in between the spaced roof elements. As a consequence of the exposure to the fire, the main elements were found standing, although some locally damaged and distorted, and the local collapse of few curved barrel vault elements was observed in one edge row only. In order to understand and interpret the observed structural performance of the roof system under fire, a full fire safety engineering process was carried out according to the following steps: (a) realistic temperature-time curves acting on the structural elements were simulated through computational fluid dynamics, (b) temperature distribution within the concrete elements was obtained with non-linear thermal analysis in variable regime, (c) strength and deformation of the concrete elements were checked with non-linear thermal-mechanical analysis. The analysis of the results allowed to identify the causes of the local collapses occurred, attributable to the distortion caused by temperature to the elements causing loss of support in early fire stage rather than to the material strength reduction due to the progressive exposure of the elements to fire. Finally, practical hints are provided to avoid such a phenomenon to occur when designing similar structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.223-236
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• 2013

In the present study the behavior of fire and the residual strength of fire-ignited RC slabs are investigated by experimental tests and numerical simulations. The fire tests of RC slabs were carried out in a furnace using the ISO 834 standard fire. The load capacity of the cooled RC slabs that were not loaded during the fire tests was evaluated by additional 3 point bending tests. The influence of the proportion of PP (polypropylene) fibers in the RC slabs on the structural behavior of the RC slabs after the fire loading was investigated. The results of the fire tests showed that the maximum temperature of concrete with PP fiber was lower than that of concrete without PP fiber. As the concrete was heated, the ultimate compressive strength decreased and the ultimate strain increased. The load-deflection relations of RC slabs after fire loading were compared by using existing stress-strain-temperature models. The comparison between the numerical analysis and the experimental tests showed that some numerical analyses were reliable and therefore, can be applied to evaluate the ultimate load of RC slabs after fire loading. The ultimate load capacity after cooling down the RC slabs without PP fiber showed a considerable reduction from that of the RC slabs with PP fiber.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.101-113
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• 2015

This paper introduces a numerical analysis method for reinforced-concrete(RC) members exposed to fire and proposes considerations in designing RC structures on the basis of the comparison between numerical results and design codes. The proposed analysis method consists of two procedures of the transient heat transfer analysis and the non-linear structural analysis. To exactly evaluate the structural behavior under fire, two material models are considered in this paper. One is "Under-Fire" condition for the material properties at the high temperature and the other one is "After-Cooling" condition for the material properties after cooling down to air temperature. The proposed method is validated through the correlation study between experimental data and numerical results. In advance, the obtained results show that the material properties which are fittable to the corresponding temperature must be taken into account for an accurate prediction of the ultimate resisting capacity of RC members. Finally, comparison of the numerical results with the design code of EN1992-1-2 also shows that the design code needs to be revised to reserve the safety of the fire-damaged structural member.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.21-25
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• 2013

Fire resistance steel, grading 490 MPa, had developed by using Thermo-mechanical control process (TMCP) and it has better performance at welding, seismic resistance than those of the ordinary structural steel, But the fire resistance performance is required to verify against the ordinary fire resistance, FR 490. Therefore this study was done to make database of mechanical properties at high temperature and to evaluate the structural stability at high temperature in terms of materials and structural member such as H-section from that of FR 490. The result of this study was that the structural stability of TMCP was lower than that of ordinary FR 490 at the range up about $700^{\circ}C$.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.427-440
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• 2001

The growing use of unprotected or partially protected steelwork in buildings has caused a lively debate regarding the safety of this form of construction. A good deal of recent research has indicated that steel members have a substantial inherent ability to resist fire so that additional fire protection can be either reduced or eliminated completely. A performance based philosophy also extends the study into the effect of structural continuity and the performance of the whole structural totality. As part of the structural system, thermal expansion during the heating phase or contraction during the cooling phase in most beams is likely to be restrained by adjacent parts of the whole system or sub-frame assembly due to compartmentation. This has not been properly addressed before. This paper describes an experimental programme in which unprotected steel beams were tested under load while it is restrained between two columns and additional horizontal restraints with particular concern on the effect of catenary action in the beams when subjected to large deflection at very high temperature. This paper also presents a three-dimensional mathematical modelling, based on the finite element method, of the series of fire tests on the part-frame. The complete analysis starts with an evaluation of temperature distribution in the structure at various time levels. It is followed by a detail 3-D finite element analysis on its structural response as a result of the changing temperature distribution. The principal part of the analysis makes use of an existing finite element package FEAST. The effect of columns being fire-protected and the beam being axially restrained has been modelled adequately in terms of their thermal and structural responses. The consequence of the beam being restrained is that the axial force in the restrained beam starts as a compression, which increases gradually up to a point when the material has deteriorated to such a level that the beam deflects excessively. The axial compression force drops rapidly and changes into a tension force leading to a catenary action, which slows down the beam deflection from running away. Design engineers will be benefited with the consideration of the catenary action.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.343-362
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• 2018

A simplified spring connection modelling approach for steel flush endplate beam-to-column connections in fire has been developed to enable realistic behaviour of connections to be incorporated into full-scale frame analyses at elevated temperature. Due to its simplicity and reliability, the proposed approach permits full-scale high-temperature frame analysis to be conducted without high computational cost. The proposed simplified spring connection modelling approach has been used to investigate the influence of connection ductility (both axial and rotational) on frame behaviour in fire. 2D steel and 3D composite frames with a range of beam spans were modelled to aid the understanding of the differences in frame response in fire where the beam-to-column connections have different axial and rotational ductility assumptions. The modelling results highlight that adopting the conventional rigid or pinned connection assumptions does not permit the axial forces acting on the connections to be accurately predicted, since the axial ductility of the connection is completely neglected when the rotational ductility is either fully restrained or free. By accounting for realistic axial and rotational ductilities of beam-to-column connections, the frame response in fire can be predicted more accurately, which is advantageous in performance-based structural fire engineering design.