Fire Resistance and Elevated Temperature in Reinforced Concrete Members: Research Needs for India

Abstract

Fire and elevated temperature are important considerations for design of concrete structures, for both normal and nuclear facilities. In India, the present design guidelines for concrete subjected to fire and elevated temperature are limited to prescriptive minimum dimension and minimum cover. The other approach suggested is fire test based, and being resource intensive, is considered only for special cases of design. The various provisions of Indian standards are discussed and compared to the international standards. Fire test data for concrete/reinforcement properties at elevated temperature for Indian materials are scarce, and hence, the calculation methods are difficult to apply for Indian concrete. Validation of such methods for India is required, which again can only happen after generation of adequate database. The article highlights the present research needs for fire design of Indian concrete, along with development of analysis methodologies/guidelines for fire design of concrete structures, assessment of fire-affected concrete structures, and combination of the fire/temperature load with other extreme loads such as impact, seismic load, or missile load using advanced approaches. This article could serve as reference for designers as well as the starting point for several research initiatives in India and thereby is expected to improve the state of the art of fire design of concrete structures in India in the long term.