Effect of local instability on capacity of steel beams exposed to fire

Abstract

This paper presents results from numerical studies on the behavior of fire exposed steel beams by taking into consideration temperature-induced sectional instabilities. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model is developed to evaluate the response of fire exposed steel beams under both flexural and shear effects. This model is applied to investigate the effect of sectional slenderness on the onset of local instability and capacity degradation in steel beams exposed to fire. Results from finite element analyses are utilized to evaluate failure of beams under different limit states including flexure, shear, sectional instability and deflection criteria. These results show that under certain loading scenarios and sectional configurations, shear capacity in steel beams can degrade at a higher pace than that of moment capacity. In addition, results from numerical studies infer that room temperature classification of steel beams based on local stability, can change with fire exposure time; a compact section at ambient conditions can transform to a non-compact/slender section under high temperature effects. This can induce temperature-induced local buckling in steel sections and lead to failure prior to attainment of failure under flexural yield and/or shear limit state.