Thermal response of steel framing members in open car park fires

For open car park structures, adopting a performance-based structural fire design is often justified and allowed because the fire does not reach flashover. However, this design approach requires an accurate assessment of temperatures in structural members exposed to car fires. This paper describes a numerical study on the thermal exposure on steel framing members in open car park fires. Steel temperatures are computed by the coupling of computational fluid dynamics and finite element modeling, and by analytical models from the Eurocodes. In addition, the influence of galvanization on the steel temperature evolution is assessed. Results show that temperatures in unprotected beams and columns are influenced by the section geometry, car fire scenario, modeling approach, and use of galvanization. Galvanization slightly delays and reduces peak temperature. Regarding the different models, CFD-FEM (CFD: computational fluid dynamics, FEM: finite-element method) coupled models predict lower temperatures than the Hasemi model, because the latter conservatively assumes that the fire flame continuously touches the ceiling. Further, the Hasemi model cannot account for the effect of reduced emissivity from galvanization on the absorbed heat flux. Detailed temperature distributions obtained in the steel members can be used to complete efficient structural fire designs based on the member sections, structure layout, and use of galvanization.