Structural Stability Verification for Steel Beam‐columns in Fire ‐ a Consistent Approach with Ambient Temperature Rules

Steel structures are characterized by a slender design, which makes stability verifications particularly important. While the design methods for steel members at ambient temperatures have been continuously developed and revised for the second generation of Eurocode 3, the method for elevated temperatures in prEN 1993‐1‐2 is still based on the corresponding rules of ENV 1993‐1‐1 of 1992. This leads to a divergence of methodology for ambient and elevated temperatures and to unnecessarily complex design methods for the engineering practice. Therefore, a harmonization of design models for ambient temperature and fire design is desirable.