Analysis of the robustness of a steel frame structure with composite floors subject to multiple fire scenarios

Abstract

This study presents robustness analyses of a three-dimensional multi-storey composite steel structure under the action of multiple fire scenarios. The main objective of the work is to improve current understanding of the collapse resistance of this type of building under different fire situations. A finite element approach was adopted with the model being firstly validated against previous studies available in the literature. The modelling approach was then used to investigate the collapse resistance of the structure for the various fire scenarios examined. Different sizes of fire compartment are considered in this study, starting from one bay, three bays and lastly the whole ground floor as the fire compartment. The investigation allows a fundamental understanding of load redistribution paths and member interactions when local failure occurs. It is concluded that the robustness of the focussed building in a fire is considerably affected by the size of fire compartments as well as fire location. The subject building can resist progressive collapse when the fire occurs only in the one-bay compartment. On the other hand, total collapse occurs when fire is located in the edge three-bay case. This shows that more than one fire scenario needs to be taken into consideration to ensure that a structure of this type can survive from collapse in the worst-case situation.