Experimental behaviour of a steel structure under natural fire

• Published in: Fire safety journal Vol. 41; no. 7; pp. 509 - 522
• Main Authors: Wald, F., Simões da Silva, L., Moore, D.B., Lennon, T., Chladná, M., Santiago, A., Beneš, M., Borges, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2006; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Building structure; Building technical equipments; Buildings; Buildings. Public works; Construction (buildings and works); Exact sciences and technology; Fire behavior of materials and structures; Fire design; Fire protection; Full-scale tests; Metal structure; Steel and composite structures; Structural engineering; Structural integrity; Portugal, Coimbra; Portugal; Czech Rep; Structural integrity; Fire design; Steel and composite structures; Full-scale tests; Structural engineering; Metallic structure; Compartment fire test; Temperature distribution; Deformation; Structure integrity; Fire performance; Full scale mockup test; Steel; Experimental study; Fire resistance; Composite construction; Fire test; Concrete; Structural analysis; Fire safety
• ISSN: 0379-7112
• DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2006.05.006

Current design codes for fire resistance of structures are based on isolated member tests subjected to standard fire conditions. Such tests do not reflect the behaviour of a complete building under either normal temperature or fire conditions. Many aspects of behaviour occur due to the interaction between members and cannot be predicted or observed in tests of isolated elements. Performance of real structures subject to real fires is often much better than that predicted from standard tests due to structural continuity and the provision of alternative load paths. This paper reports on the results of a collaborative research project (Tensile membrane action and robustness of structural steel joints under natural fire, European Community FP5 project HPRI—CV 5535) involving the following institutions: Czech Technical University (Czech Republic), University of Coimbra (Portugal), Slovak Technical University (Slovak Republic) and Building Research Establishment (United Kingdom). It consists of an experimental programme to investigate the global structural behaviour of a compartment on the 8-storey steel–concrete composite frame building at the Cardington laboratory during a BRE large-scale fire test, aimed at the examination of the temperature development within the various structural elements, the corresponding (dynamic) distribution of internal forces and the behaviour of the composite slab, beams, columns and connections.