BEHAVIOUR OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES IN FIRE

Abstract

This paper provides a "state-of-the-art" review of research into the effects of high temperature on concrete and concrete structures, extending to a range of forms of construction, including novel developments. The nature of concrete-based structures means that they generally perform very well in fire. However, concrete is fundamentally a complex material and its properties can change dramatically when exposed to high temperatures. The principal effects of fire on concrete are loss of compressive strength, and spalling - the forcible ejection of material from the surface of a member. Though a lot of information has been gathered on both phenomena, there remains a need for more systematic studies of the effects of thermal exposures. The response to realistic fires of whole concrete structures presents yet greater challenges due to the interactions of structural elements, the impact of complex small-scale phenomena at full scale, and the spatial and temporal variations in exposures, including the cooling phase of the fire. Progress has been made on modelling the thermomechanical behaviour but the treatment of detailed behaviours, including hygral effects and spalling, remains a challenge. Furthermore, there is still a severe lack of data from real structures for validation, though some valuable insights may also be gained from study of the performance of concrete structures in real fires.

Keywords

Dates

  • Submission Date2006-06-26
  • Revision Date2006-07-05
  • Acceptance Date2006-09-10

DOI Reference

10.2298/TSCI0702037F

References

  1. ***, ISO, Fire Resistance Tests, Elements of Building Construction, ISO 834, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 1975
  2. Khoury, G. A., Effect of Fire on Concrete and Concrete Structures, Progress in Structural Engineering and Materials, 2 (2000), 4, pp. 429-447
  3. ***, BS 8110-1:1997 and BS 8110-2:1985 "Structural Use of Concrete", BSI
  4. Bazant, Z. P., Kaplan, M. F., Concrete at High Temperatures, Longman, London, 1996
  5. Carvel, R., Fire Protection in Concrete Tunnels, Handbook of Tunnel Fire Safety (Eds. A. Beard, R. Carvel), Thomas Telford, London, 2005
  6. Alarcon-Ruiz, L., Platret, G., Massieu, E., Ehrlacher, A., The Use of Thermal Analysis in Assessing the Effect of Temperature on a Cement Paste, Cement & Concrete Research, 35 (2005), 3, pp. 609-613
  7. Placido, F., Thermoluminescence Test for Fire-Damaged Concrete, Mag Concrete Res, 32 (1980), 11, pp. 112-116
  8. Li, L., Purkiss, J., Stress-Strain Constitutive Equations of Concrete Material at Elevated Temperatures, Fire Safety J., 40 (2005), 7, pp. 669-686
  9. Anderberg, Y., Thelandersson, S., Stress and Deformation Characteristics of Concrete, 2 - Experimental Investigation and Material Behaviour Model, University of Lund, Sweden, Bulletin 54, 1976
  10. Schneider, U., Concrete at High Temperatures - A General Review, Fire Safety J., 13 (1988), 1, pp. 55-68
  11. Terro, M. J., Numerical Modelling of the Behaviour of Concrete Structures, ACI Struct J., 95 (1998), 2, pp. 183-93
  12. Nielsen, C. V., Pearce, C. J., Bicanic, N., Theoretical Model of High Temperature Effects on Uniaxial Concrete Member under Elastic Restraint, Mag Concrete Res, 4 (2002), 54, pp. 239-249
  13. Khoury, G. A., Grainger, B. N., Sullivan, P. J. E., Transient Thermal Strain of Concrete: Literature Review, Conditions within Specimen and Behaviour of Individual Constituents, Mag Concrete Res, 37 (1985), 132, pp. 131-144
  14. ***, Eurocode 2, Design of Concrete Structures, Part 1.2 - General Rules, Structural Fire Design, EN 1992-1-2, European Committee for Standardisation, Brussels, 2003
  15. Bailey, C., Holistic Behaviour of Concrete Buildings in Fire, Structures & Buildings, 152 (2002), 3, pp. 199-212
  16. Tenchev, R., Purnell, P., An Application of a Damage Constitutive Model to Concrete at High Temperature and Prediction of Spalling, Int. J. Solids and Structures, 42 (2005), 26, pp. 6550-6565
  17. Canisius, T. D. G., Waleed, N., Matthews. S. L., Evaluation of Effects of the Fire Test on Cardington Concrete Building, Proceedings (CBI Publication No. 290, eds. F. Shafi, R. Bukowski, R. Klemencic), CIB-CTBUH International Conference on Tall Buildings, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003, pp. 353- 360
  18. Both, C., van de Haar, P., Tan, G., Wolsink, G., Evaluation of Passive Fire Protection Measures for Concrete Tunnel Linings, Proceedings, International Conference on Tunnel Fires and Escape from Tunnels, Lyon, France, 1999, pp. 95-104
  19. Schneider, U., Lebeda, C., Structural Fire Protection (in German), Bauwerk Verlag, Berlin, 2007
  20. Hertz, K. D., Sorensen, L. S., Test Method for Spalling of Fire Exposed Concrete, Fire Safety J., 40 (2005), 5, pp. 466-476
  21. Ali, F., Nadjai, A., Silcock, G., Abu-Tair, A., Outcomes of a Major Research on Fire Resistance of Concrete Columns, Fire Safety J., 39 (2004), 6, pp. 433-445
  22. Han, C. G., Hwang, Y. S., Yang, S. H., Gowripalan, N., Performance of Spalling Resistance of High Performance Concrete with Polypropylene Fiber Contents and Lateral Confinement, Cement and Concrete Research, 35 (2005), 9, pp. 1747-1753
  23. Steinert, C., Behaviour in Case of Fire of Tunnel Linings of Sprayed Concrete with Fibre Additive (in German), MFPA, Leipzig, Germany, 1997
  24. Kalifa, P., Chéné, G., Gallé, C., High Temperature Behaviour of HPC with Polypropylene Fibres from Spalling to Microstructure, Cement & Concrete Research, 31 (2001), 10, pp. 1487-1499
  25. Shuttleworth, P., Fire Protection of Concrete Tunnel Linings, Proceedings, 3rd International Conference on Tunnel Fires and Escape from Tunnels, Washington DC, USA, 2001, pp. 157-165
  26. Khoury, G. A., Majorana, C. E., Pesavento, F., Schrefler, B. A., Modelling of Heated Concrete, Mag Concrete Res, 54 (2002), 2, pp. 77-101
  27. Georgali, B., Tsakiridis, P. E., Microstructure of Fire-Damaged Concrete, A Case Study, Cement and Concrete Composites, 27 (2005), 2, pp. 255-259
  28. Bisby, L. A., Green, M. F., Kodur, V. K. R., Modeling the Behaviour of Fiber Reinforced Polymer-Confined Concrete Columns Exposed to Fire, J. of Composites for Construction, 9 (2005), 1, pp. 15-24
  29. Chung, J. H., Consolazio, G. R., Numerical Modeling of Transport Phenomena in Reinforced Concrete Exposed to Elevated Temperatures, Cement and Concrete Research, 35 (2005), 3, pp. 597-608
  30. Kodur, V. K. R., Bisby, L. A., Evaluation of Fire Endurance of Concrete Slabs Reinforced with FRP Bars, J. of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 131 (2005), 1, pp. 34-43
  31. Abbasi, A., Hogg, P. J., Fire Testing of Concrete Beams with Fibre Reinforced Plastic Rebar, Composites Part A, Applied Science and Manufacturing, 37 (2006), 8, pp. 1142-1150
  32. Abbasi, A., Hogg, P. J., A Model for Predicting the Properties of the Constituents of a Glass Fibre Rebar Reinforced Concrete Beam at Elevated Temperatures Simulating a Fire Test, Composites Part B, Engineering, 36 (2005), 5, pp. 384-393
  33. Wang, Y. C., Kodur, V., Variation of Strength and Stiffness of Fibre Reinforced Polymer Reinforcing Bars with Temperature, Cement and Concrete Composites, 27 (2005), 9-10, pp. 864-874
  34. Abbasi, A., Hogg, P. J., Temperature and Environmental Effects on Glass Fibre Rebar, Modulus, Strength and Interfacial Bond Strength with Concrete, Composites Part B, Engineering, 36 (2005), 5, pp. 394-404
  35. Williams, B., Bisby, L., Kodur, V., Green, M., Chowdhury, E., Fire Insulation Schemes for frp-Strengthened Concrete Slabs, Composites Part A, Applied Science & Manufacturing, 37 (2006), 8, pp. 1151-1160
  36. Fakury, R. H., Las Casas, E. B., Pacifico, F. F., Abreu, L. M. P., Design of Semi-Continuous Composite Steel-Concrete Beams at the Fire Limit State, J. Constr. Steel Research., 61 (2005), 8, pp. 1094-1107
  37. Drysdale, D. D., An Introduction to Fire Dynamics, 2nd ed., John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA, 1989
  38. ***, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 3rd ed., National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Ma., USA, 2002
  39. Buchanan, A. H., Structural Design for Fire Safety, John Wiley and Sons, New York, USA, 2002
  40. Shipp, M., A Hydrocarbon Fire Standard: An Assessment of Existing Information, BR65, Building Research Establishment, Fire Research Station, Borehamwood, UK, 1985
  41. van de Leur, P. H. E., Tunnel Fire Simulations for the Ministry of Public Works (in Dutch), TNO Report B-91-0043, 1991
  42. Welch, S., Rubini, R., Three-Dimensional Simulation of a Fire-Resistance Furnace, Proceedings, 5th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Melbourne, Australia, 1997, pp. 1009-1020
  43. Welch, S., Jowsey, A., Deeny, S., Morgan, R., Torero, J. L., BRE Large Compartment Fire Tests, Characterising Post-Flashover Fires for Model Validation, Fire Safety J., 42 (2007), 7 (in press)
  44. Franssen, J.-M., Structures in Fire, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Proceedings, 8th International Symposium on Fire Safety Science, Beijing, 2007, pp. 21-35
  45. Wetzig, V., Destruction Mechanisms in Concrete Material in Case of Fire, and Protection Systems, Proceedings, 4th International Conference on Safety in Road and Rail Tunnels (SIRRT), Madrid, 2001, pp. 281-290
  46. Pettersson, O., Magnusson, S. E., Thor, J., Fire Engineering Design of Steel Structures, Swedish Institute of Steel Construction, Stockholm, Publication 50, 1976
  47. Law, M., A Relationship between Fire Grading and Building Design and Contents, Joint Fire Research Organization, Borehamwood, UK, Fire Research Note No. 877, 1971
  48. Lamont, S., Usmani, A. S., Gillie, M., Behaviour of a Small Composite Steel Frame Structure in a "Long-Cool" and a "Short-Hot" Fire, Fire Safety J., 39 (2004), 5, pp. 327-357
  49. Usmani, A. S., Rotter, J. M., Lamont, S., Sanad, A. M., Gillie, M., Fundamental Principles of Structural Behaviour under Thermal Effects, Fire Safety J., 36 (2001), 8, pp. 721-744
  50. Bratina, S., Cas, B., Saje, M., Planinc, I., Numerical Modelling of Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Columns in Fire and Comparison with Eurocode 2, Int. J. of Solids and Structures, 42 (2005), 21-22, pp. 5715-5733
  51. Benmarce, A., Guenfoud, M., Behaviour of Axially Restrained High Strength Concrete Columns under Fire, Construction and Building Materials, 57 (2005), 5, pp. 283-287
  52. Lennon, T., Whole Building Behavior: Results from a Series of Large Scale Tests, Proceedings (CIB Publications No. 290, eds. F. Shafi, R. Bukowski, R. Klemencic), CIB-CTBUH International Conference on Tall Buildings, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003, pp. 345-351
  53. Capote, J. A., Alvear, D., Lázaro, M., Espina, P., Fletcher, I. A., Welch, S., Torero, J. L., Analysis of Thermal Fields Generated by Natural Fires on the Structural Elements of Tall Buildings, Proceedings, International Congress Fire Safety in Tall Buildings, Santander, Spain, 2006, pp. 93-109
  54. Stabler, J., Computational Modelling of Thermo-Mechanical Damage and Plasticity in Concrete, Ph. D. thesis, Dept. of Civil Eng., University of Queensland, Australia, 2000
  55. Grasberger, S., Meschke, G., A Hygral-Thermal-Poroplastic Damage Model for the Durability Analyses of Concrete Structures, Proceedings on CD-ROM (Eds. E. Oniate, G. Bugeda, G. Suárez), European Congress on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences and Engineering, ECCOMAS 2000, Barcelona, Spain
  56. Ulm, F., Coussy, O., Bazant, Z., The "Chunnel" Fire, I - Chemoplastic Softening in Rapidly Heated Concrete, J. Engineering Mechanics, 125 (1999), 3, pp. 272-282
Volume 11, Issue 2, Pages37 -52