Post-earthquake fire behavior of welded steel I-beam to hollow column connections: An experimental investigation

Qian Yi Song, Amin Heidarpour, Xiao Ling Zhao, Lin Hai Han

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Extreme events such as earthquake and fire can cause severe damage to building structures. The possible coupling of various extremes such as earthquake followed by fire is more destructive. It is necessary to capture the behavior of building structures subjected to the post-earthquake fire (PEF) for safety reasons. This study aims to investigate the behavior of unstiffened welded steel connections subjected to the PEF scenario. Experimental tests were carried out on two groups of steel I-beam to hollow column connections with different column wall thicknesses under ISO fire including 4 connections with the same specifications within each group in which 3 connections were tested under the coupling of cyclic loading and subsequent fire while 1 connection was only subjected to fire. All undamaged and pre-damaged connections were tested in a gas furnace under the given constant static load which was about 30% of the ultimate monotonic loading strength of the connections. The furnace temperature, temperature distribution and the deflection of the beam were measured during the fire tests. It was found that the load-carrying capacity of the welded connections decreases significantly with the increase of the pre-damage level. Preliminary finite element modeling was carried out for a heat transfer analysis on the basis of uniform fire exposure as well, which showed nonuniform temperature distribution of the connections.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)143-153
Number of pages11
JournalThin-Walled Structures
Volume98
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cyclic loading
  • Hollow columns
  • ISO-834 fire curve
  • Post-earthquake fire
  • Pre-damage
  • Welded connection

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction
  • Mechanical Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Post-earthquake fire behavior of welded steel I-beam to hollow column connections: An experimental investigation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this