Nonlinear Buckling Strength of Steel H-Beam under Localized Fire and Pure Bending

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical simulation to assess lateral-torsional buckling (LTB) behavior of steel H-beams exposed to localized fire. The nonlinear buckling analysis was conducted using a finite element program, ABAQUS, to assess LTB of the beams. The steel beams were subjected to pure bending and localized fire. The location of the localized fire was applied below at a one-eighth point, a quarter-point and a half of the beam from the support. The combined effects of initial geometric imperfection and residual stress were also considered. The buckling strength of the beam under localized fire and ISO-834 standard fire were generated and compared. The results showed that the LTB strength degradation of the beam under localized fire was slower than that in ISO-834 standard fire. The fire source location and the length-to-height ratio of the beam have a significant effect on the LTB strength of the beam. The LTB capacity of beams using Eurocode 3 with the uniform heating assumption can give over-conservative results when the real fire scenario is localized fire. The buckling strength of steel beams using Eurocode 3 can give unconservative results when the fire scenario is ISO-834 standard fire.