• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2018

This paper presents a review on progressive collapse mechanism of steel framed buildings exposed to fire. The influence of load ratios, strength of structural members (beam, column, slab, connection), fire scenarios, bracing systems, fire protections on the collapse mode and collapse time of structures is comprehensively reviewed. It is found that the key influencing factors include load ratio, fire scenario, bracing layout and fire protection. The application of strong beams, high load ratios, multi-compartment fires will lead to global downward collapse which is undesirable. The catenary action in beams and tensile membrane action in slabs contribute to the enhancement of structural collapse resistance, leading to a ductile collapse mechanism. It is recommended to increase the reinforcement ratio in the sagging and hogging region of slabs to not only enhance the tensile membrane action in the slab, but to prevent the failure of beam-to-column connections. It is also found that a frame may collapse in the cooling phase of compartment fires or under travelling fires. This is because that the steel members may experience maximum temperatures and maximum displacements under these two fire scenarios. An edge bay fire is more prone to induce the collapse of structures than a central bay fire. The progressive collapse of buildings can be effectively prevented by using bracing systems and fire protections. A combination of horizontal and vertical bracing systems as well as increasing the strength and stiffness of bracing members is recommended to enhance the collapse resistance. A protected frame dose not collapse immediately after the local failure but experiences a relatively long withstanding period of at least 60 mins. It is suggested to use three-dimensional models for accurate predictions of whether, when and how a structure collapses under various fire scenarios.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.121-139
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• 2021

Ultra-high strength concrete (UHSC) encased steel columns are receiving growing interest in high-rise buildings owing to their economic and architectural advantages. However, UHSC encased steel columns are not covered by the modern fire safety design code. A total of 14 fire tests are conducted on UHSC (120 MPa) encased steel columns under constant axial loads and exposed to ISO-834 standard fire. The effect of load ratio, slenderness, stirrup spacing, cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel on the fire resistance and failure mode of the specimens are investigated. The applicability of the tabulated method in EC4 (EN 1994-1-2-2005) and regression formula in Chinese code (DBJ/T 15-81-2011) to fire resistance of UHSC encased steel columns are checked. Generally, the test results reveal that the vertical displacement-heating time curves can be divided into two phases, i.e. thermal expansion and shortening to failure. It is found that the fire resistance of column specimens increases with the increase of the cross-section size and concrete cover to core steel, but decreases with the increase of the load ratio and slenderness. The EC4 method overestimates the fire resistance up to 186% (220 min), while the Chinese code underestimates it down to 49%. The Chinese code has a better agreement than EC4 with the test results since the former considers the effect of the load ratio, slenderness, cross section size directly in its empirical formula. To estimate the fire resistance precisely can improve the economy of structural fire design of ultra-high strength concrete encased steel columns.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 1997

The surveying method for determine moveable fuel load estimates is presented. Two types of offices, open plan design and compartmented layout were surveyed and Data are presented for fuel load densities in ten office buildings. Office building fuel load in Korea range from 36kg/$m^2$ to 52kg/$m^2$ with 95% confidence level and represented mean 44.27kg/$m^2$. The results of the study presented the impact of the office layout and computer accessary contribution on the fuel load. In addition, a comparison of fuel load that found at this survey and that found at Fire Protection Dept., University of Maryland, U. S. A was made.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.255-260
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• 2002

Recently, the occurrences of electrical fire have been suppressed by an earth leakage breaker(ELB), a no fuse breaker(NFB) and a fuse in case of an earth leakage, a short circuit and an over current. But it is impossible for the ELB to break the circuit in the case of the failure of pressure contacts on connecting points and the momentary short circuit. Therefore, it is require to study the constructive problem of the ELB. In this paper, we have developed the auxiliary control device, electrical fire prevention control device(EFPCD), of the ELB. And we have tested the operation characteristics of the ELB according to the load(R, L) As a result of this experiment, we could prevent the electrical fire due to the spark and the overheat occurring in the failure of pressure contacts on connecting points and the momentary short circuit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.101-112
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• 2022

Expanding urbanization practices result in high numbers of buildings being developed in city centers. This high building concentration leads to an increased fire risk, resulting in higher casualty rates and increased economic damages compared to fires in the past. The purpose of this study was to analyze the structural behavior of fire-damaged reinforced concrete buildings using analytical methods and to suggest methods of improving fire resistance in the event of a fire. Damage levels were measured using commercial software to apply the finite element method, ABAQUS, and MIDAS GEN to the dataset. Load-deflection curves were calculated using the effective area and moment of inertia of the fire-damaged columns provided by ABAQUS. The results of this analysis indicate that fire-damaged beams with experience greater deflection from indoor fires than they will from outdoor fires. Fires that occurred on the middle floors were more dangerous than those occurring on higher floors, and eccentrically loaded columns experienced more damage than axially loaded columns. The results indicate that these methods accurately predict structural behaviors of fire damaged concrete columns by considering fire exposure area and eccentric loading.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.853-866
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• 2016

This paper examines a methodology for computing the probability of structural failure of reinforced concrete beams subjected to fire. The significant load variables considered are dead load, sustained live load and fire temperature. Resistance is expressed in terms of moment capacity with random variables taken as yield strength of steel, concrete class (or grade of concrete), beam width and depth. The flexural capacity is determined based on the design equations recommended in Indian standard IS456:2000. Simplified method named $500^{\circ}C$ isotherm method detailed in Eurocode 2 is incorporated for fire design. A transient thermal analysis is conducted using finite element software ANSYS$^{(R)}$ Release15. Reliability is evaluated from the initial state to 4h of fire exposure based on the first order reliability method (FORM). A procedure is coded in MATLAB for finding the reliability index. This procedure is validated with available literature. The effect of various parameters like effective cover, yield strength of steel, grade of concrete, distribution of reinforcement bars and aggregate type on reliability indices are studied. Parameters like effective cover of concrete, yield strength of steel has a significant effect on reliability of beams. Different failure modes like limit state of flexure and limit state of shear are checked.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.82-88
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• 2010

Major structural elements such as columns and beams are designed to withstand the vertical and horizontal loads. Futhermore, when the structural elements were engulfed with fire the structural stability should be stand without failure. The beams have been developed in aspects of structural stability but an evaluation of fire performance was not done. So the data of fire resistance performance of beams filled with concrete at web on H-section is not known. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the correlation between temperature analysis and fire test with the beams and to show the fire resistance performance with two methods.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.661-672
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• 2021

In this article, the role of spans number and length in fire-resistance ratings (FRRs) of fireproofed steel frames are investigated. First, over a span-lengthening scenario, two one- and three-bay frames under the ISO834 fire are examined. It is shown that the FRRs of the frames rely highly on the changes made on their span length. Second, a building designed for three spans number of three, four, and five under natural fire is investigated. The beams are designed for two load-capacity-ratios (LCRs) of optimum and ultimate. The fire curves are determined through a probabilistic-based approach. It is shown that the structural vulnerability vastly increases while the number of spans decreases. The results show that for an optimum LCR, while the five-span frame can meet the required FRR in 87% of the fire scenarios, the four- and three-span frames can meet the required FRR in only 56%, and 50% of the fire scenarios, respectively. For an ultimate LCR, the five-, four- and three-span frames can meet the required FRR in 81%, 50%, and 37.5% of the fire scenarios, respectively. Functional solutions are then proposed to resolve the insufficiencies in the results and to rectify the application of the standard-based FRRs in the cases studied. The study here highlights how employing current standard-based FRRs can endanger structural safety if they are not connected to structural characteristics; a crucial hint specifically for the structural engineering community who may be not well familiar with the fundamentals of performance-based approaches.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2013

The thermal creep is one of the major factors causing the buckle of steel columns in the fire events. But, few related studies have been reported to evaluate the factors affecting the thermal creep of steel column experimentally or numerically. In this study a series of Fire-resistant steel columns with three different slenderness ratios under a sustained load are tested under a uniform temperature up to six hours in order to evaluate the creep upon three selected factors, temperature, applied load, and column slenderness. Based on experimental results, a proposed creep strain rate model is established as the function of a single parameter of the load ratio of temperature LR(T) to determine the buckling time of steel column due to creep. Furthermore it is found that the creep can be neglected when LR(T) is smaller than 0.77.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.327-329
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• 2012

The validity of the numerical model used in the program is established by comparing the prediction from the computer program with results from full-scale fire resistance tests. Details of fire resistance experiments carried out on reinforced concrete slab, together with results, are presented. The results obtained from experimental test indicated in that the proposed numerical model and the implemented codes are accurate and reliable.