Large Scale Fire Test on a Composite Slim-floor System

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.