Abstract
This paper presents a study of the behaviour of Reinforced Concrete (RC) slabs subjected to severe hydrocarbon fire exposure. In which the spalling phenomena of concrete is to be considered. The hydrocarbon curve is applicable where small petroleum fires might occur, i.e. car fuel tanks, petrol or oil tankers, certain petro-chemical facilities, tunnels, parking structures, etc. Spalling is included using a simplified approach where elements with temperatures higher than 400 °C are assumed to occur and the corresponding thermo-mechanical response of RC slabs is evaluated. The nonlinear finite element software SAFIR has been used to perform a numerical analysis of the spalling risk, by removing layers of concrete covering when a set of spalling criteria is checked. The numerical results obtained by finite element analysis of the temperature distribution within the slab and mid-span deflection were compared with published experimental data. Predictions from the numerical model show a good agreement with the experimental data throughout the entire fire exposure to the hydrocarbon fire. This shows that this approach (layering procedure) is very useful in predicting the behaviour of concrete spalling cases. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091667 Full Text: PDF
Highlights
Most of the experimental and numerical research studies over the last few decades focused predominately on the behaviour of structural (RC) elements under fire exposure [1,2,3], but a very small number of numerical research studies have involved the spalling phenomenon [4,5,6]
Very little scientific information about the performance and fire resistance of Reinforced Concrete (RC) slabs when subjected to severe hydrocarbon fires, and few studies have been devoted to it, in which the spalling phenomenon is taken into account
In order to cover this gap in the literature, this paper aims to study the impact of the spalling concrete on the mechanical properties of RC slab under fire conditions
Summary
Most of the experimental and numerical research studies over the last few decades focused predominately on the behaviour of structural (RC) elements (beams, columns, walls and slabs) under fire exposure [1,2,3], but a very small number of numerical research studies have involved the spalling phenomenon [4,5,6]. Some research suggests that the presence of the reinforcement steel in concrete impedes moisture movement and creates quasi-saturated moisture clog-zones that could lead to the development of significant pore pressure [11] These zones change the flow of heat in the structure and tend to attenuate the rise of internal temperature. The analysis is carried out according to the following steps: Creation of the model by discretizing the RC slab using four-node quadrilateral elements and modelled by rectangular finite elements; Determination of temperature fields at every moment and at every point of the beam, which is done by solving the transient equations of heat transfer using the finite element method It follows the temperature timedepending, used in the second stage for the mechanical study; After conducting the thermal analysis, the second step is to make a mechanical analysis in which the temperature history of the structure, due to fire, is read from the data files created during the thermal analysis; The numerical results obtained from the structural analysis are compared with experimental data on RC slab subjected to severe fire (hydrocarbon fire) [23]
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