Studies on Semi-Continuous Composite Beams with Non-Uniform Fire Protection

Abstract

An innovative type of non-uniform arrangements of fire protection materials is proposed for efficient fire protection to semi-continuous composite beams. The fire protection is arranged according to applied bending moments and shear forces. Heavy fire protection is applied in high bending and shear regions, while relative thin or even no fire protection is applied in low bending regions. Different failure modes are identified from the results of finite element analyses under different combinations of temperature profiles in both heavily and less fire-protected regions. A simple design approach is then proposed to predict load carrying capacities of semi-continuous composite beams for each of the identified failure modes. A parametric study is conducted thereafter to optimise the arrangements of fire protection materials.