Performance-based Fire Safety Design of Reinforced Concrete Beams:

A numerical model, in the form of a computer program, is presented for tracing the fire behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams over the entire range of loading from pre-fire conditions to collapse under fire. The three stages associated with the analysis of fire resistance; namely, establishing the fire temperature-time development, calculating the heat transfer through the structure from the fire, and the structural analysis are explained. The model, which accounts for nonlinear material properties at elevated temperatures, is capable of predicting the fire resistance of RC beams under realistic fire scenarios, load levels, and failure criteria. The validity of the numerical model is established by comparing the predictions from the computer program with results from full-scale fire resistance tests. Through the results of numerical study, it is shown that the type of failure criterion, load level, and fire scenario have significant influence on fire resistance of RC beams. The computer program can be used to undertake performance-based fire safety design of RC beams for any value of the significant parameters, such as fire exposure, concrete cover thickness, section dimensions, concrete strength, concrete type, and load intensity.

[1]  Venkatesh Kodur,et al.  Performance-based fire resistance design of concrete-filled steel columns , 1999 .

[2]  Venkatesh Kodur,et al.  Deformation controlled nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete continuous beams , 1990 .

[3]  Monther B. Dwaikat,et al.  A numerical model for predicting the fire resistance of reinforced concrete beams , 2008 .

[4]  T. T. Lie,et al.  Structural fire protection , 1992 .

[5]  Venkatesh Kodur,et al.  Spalling in High Strength Concrete Exposed to Fire: Concerns, Causes, Critical Parameters and Cures , 2000 .

[6]  前田 潤滋.  Low Speed Aerodynamics Laboratory National Research Council of Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canda K1A 0R6 , 1990 .

[7]  Brian J. Meacham,et al.  Performance-Based Fire Safety Engineering: an Introduction of Basic Concepts , 1995 .

[8]  Bruce R. Ellingwood,et al.  Flexure and Shear Behavior of Concrete Beams during Fires , 1991 .

[9]  Venkatesh Kodur,et al.  Guidelines for Fire Resistance Design of High-strength Concrete Columns , 2005 .

[10]  Andrew H. Buchanan,et al.  Structural Design for Fire Safety , 2001 .

[11]  T. D. Lin,et al.  FIRE ENDURANCE OF CONTINUOUS REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS , 1981 .

[12]  T. T. Lie,et al.  Method to Calculate the Fire Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Columns With Rectangular Cross Section , 1993 .

[13]  N. Null.  Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures , 2003 .

[14]  T. Wang,et al.  Predicting the fire resistance behaviour of high strength concrete columns , 2004 .

[15]  Andrew H. Buchanan,et al.  Post-flashover fires for structural design , 2002 .

[16]  Jean-Marc Franssen,et al.  The use of numerical models for the fire analysis of reinforced concrete and composite structures , 1985 .