Behavior of concentrically braced steel frames under fire loading

Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Knowing how a steel structure behaves under fire loading is of vital importance, given a large number of events in recent years have proved the vulnerability of steel structures under this type of hazard. Older concentrically braced frames have been widely used in buildings without observing seismic provisions and details. Although the vulnerability of this type of structural system, here referred to as non-seismic braced frames, has been studied under earthquake loading before, its behaviour under fire loading has not been investigated yet. This paper investigated the behaviour of global and local responses of the mentioned structural system under various uniform fire scenarios. The heating and cooling phases of fire were taken into account for different building stories using the finite element method. The results of analyses showed that the braces buckled at high temperatures due to the large compressive axial forces and expansion of lateral constraints. This phenomenon led to the early loss of lateral resistance of stories, which, in turn, resulted in the failure of columns. Consequently, the underlying floor collapsed under fire. The analysis results contribute to a better understanding of the behaviour of steel braced frames under fire conditions and the corresponding local and global responses.

Keywords


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