Behavior of Steel–Concrete Partially Composite Beams Subjected to Fire—Part 1: Experimental Study

Partially composite steel–concrete beams are commonly used in building construction, and so the behavior of such beams in fire is an important problem. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of two composite beam specimens subject to fire exposure. The two specimens were nominally identical, except for the shear connection ratio. Based on room temperature calculations, one specimen was designed as fully composite, and the second was designed as partially composite with a 50% shear connection ratio. The concrete slab for each specimen was constructed with a flat steel deck and reinforcement was provided by a reinforcing bar truss. Both specimens were subject to a constant vertical load applied at four locations along the span and tested in a furnace with an ISO-834 standard fire. Both specimens achieved large deflections associated with flexural yielding of the composite beams and exhibited measured flexural capacities larger than predicted from Eurocode 4. Based on test measurements, the shear connection ratio had a significant influence on interface slip and uplift behavior of concrete slabs. Failure of the specimens was defined when the maximum deflection reached span/30. The fire exposure time needed to reach this definition of failure was nearly the same for both specimens, and was 51 min for the fully composite beam and 49 min for the partially composite beam. A companion paper considers the degradation of material properties with temperature and slips behavior of shear connectors at elevated temperatures and also provides an analytical approach to predict fire response of steel–concrete partially composite beams.     

同跨受火时两层两跨组合钢框架抗火性能的试验研究

利用自行研制的火灾试验炉,对两榀两层两跨组合钢框架在同跨火灾作用下的性能进行了试验研究,火灾工况包括:梁、板、柱同时受火、节点不受火,梁、板受火而柱、节点不受火两种。试验中量测了各种工况的炉温,框架梁、柱及混凝土楼板中的温度分布及框架水平和竖向位移。结果表明:钢柱四面受火时,钢柱翼缘、腹板的温度相差很小;对于钢梁,除了与混凝土接触的上翼缘外,其余H型钢梁的裸露部分温度分布基本均匀;混凝土内部的温升一般滞后于钢梁,钢筋混凝土板对钢梁有约束作用,升温时混凝土限制钢梁的膨胀、降温时则限制钢梁的收缩,致使钢筋混凝土板中出现很多裂缝;组合梁的抗火性能明显优于钢柱,工程中应对钢柱和节点实施保护;钢框架未受火部分对受火部分约束很大,导致受火跨边柱与中柱的变形不对称,同样也产生了内力重分布。     

两层两跨组合钢框架抗火性能的试验研究

利用自行研制的火灾试验炉,对3榀两层两跨组合钢框架在不同火灾工况下的性能进行了试验研究,火灾工况包括:单室受火、同跨受火和底层受火三种工况,试验时,梁、板、柱同时受火,节点不受火.试验中量测了各种工况下的炉温,框架梁、柱及混凝土楼板中的温度分布及框架水平和竖向位移.结果表明:钢柱四面受火时,钢柱翼缘、腹板的温度相差很小;而单面受火时则相差较大;对于钢梁,除了与混凝土接触的上翼缘外,其余H型钢梁的裸露部分温度基本一致;混凝土内部的温升一般滞后于钢梁,钢筋混凝土板对钢梁有约束作用,升温时混凝土限制钢梁的膨胀,降温时则限制钢梁的收缩,致使钢筋混凝土板中出现很多裂缝;组合钢框架在降温时因为收缩,导致节点等处出现不同程度的破坏,并产生很大的残余变形;钢框架未受火部分对受火部分约束很大, 导致受火跨边柱与中柱的变形不对称, 同样也产生了内力重分布;组合梁的抗火性能明显优于钢柱,工程中应对钢柱和节点实施保护.     

Thermal and structural response of two-storey two-bay composite steel frames under furnace loading

The collapse of the World Trade Center Towers and other recent fires in tall buildings has motivated this study to understand the performance of structural frames under fire loading. Three two-storey, two-bay composite steel frames were constructed and subjected to dead loads by applying weight blocks, and to thermal load by placing the frame in a furnace. The furnace was specially designed to allow for controlled heating of the structural elements that formed the four compartments of the test frame. This paper describes the experimental results of furnace test conducted on the three full-scale composite frames. The three tests differed from each other in the number and location of compartments that were heated by the furnace. For each test, the structural elements were subjected to a heating-up phase followed by a cooling-down phase. The furnace temperatures and the steel and concrete temperatures recorded during the test are presented. The thermally induced horizontal displacements of the columns and vertical deflections of the composite beams are discussed. Observations on local buckling of the steel beam, cracking of the concrete slab and failure of the beam-to-column connections are tabulated. Experimental results of the three tests are compared with each other by studying the complete deformation process of the test frames over time. Results indicate that the deformation process of the test frames was highly dependent on the number and location of compartments that were subjected to thermal loading.     

A space-exact beam element for time-dependent analysis of composite members with discrete shear connection

This paper presents a space-exact, time-discretized solution for the time-dependent analysis of composite beams with partial interaction. The time effects considered in this model are creep and shrinkage of the concrete slab. The constitutive model adopted to describe the time effects is linear viscoelasticity with time-dependent coefficients to account for ageing. By using the time-discretized form of the constitutive relations, the equilibrium equations in terms of the displacements at a generic instant are analytically solved. Based on the analytical expressions (exact in space) of the displacements and the internal forces, the space-exact stiffness matrix is deduced for a generic composite beam element. This stiffness matrix can be used in a displacement-based procedure for the time-analysis of continuous composite steel-concrete beams with arbitrary support and loading conditions. The present formulation requires a minimum number of elements depending on the support and loading conditions. The proposed hybrid analytical-numerical method is used to investigate both the short-term and the long-term deflections of simply supported composite beams in order to assess the calculation method proposed in Eurocode EN 1994-1-1 [21]. The effects of creep, shrinkage and degree of shear connection on the deflection of simply supported composite beams are also analyzed. The long-term deflection calculated with the analytical model based on the rules given in EN 1994-1-1 [21] is compared against the one predicted by the proposed model. It is found that EN 1994-1-1 [21] slightly underestimate the long-term deflection. It was also observed that the contribution of shrinkage to the deflection is more significant than suggested in EN 1994-1-1 [21].     

Modeling the response of composite beam–slab assemblies exposed to fire

This paper presents the development of a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model for evaluating the response of composite beam–slab assemblies subjected to a combination of gravity and fire loading. The behavior of typical beam–slab assemblies with different shear connection types (welded–bolted shear tab and all-bolted double-angle connection), exposed to different fire scenarios, was modeled using ANSYS. The finite element model accounts for temperature dependent thermal and mechanical properties of constituent materials, connections, and composite action. Transient time domain coupled thermal-stress analysis is performed to obtain the temperature distribution and deformation response of the composite beam–slab assembly. The finite element model is validated by comparing the predicted and measured thermal and structural response parameters of three composite beam–slab assemblies tested under fire conditions. The comparisons show that the proposed model is capable of predicting the fire response of beam–slab assemblies with good accuracy. Research from the analysis clearly shows that the composite action between the beam and slab significantly enhances the fire performance of composite beam–slab assemblies. It is concluded that the proposed finite element model could be used as a feasible tool to evaluate the fire response of composite floor systems.     

Long-term deflection of cracked composite beams with nonlinear partial shear interaction: I — Finite element modeling

In this paper, a uniaxial nonlinear finite element procedure for modeling the long-term behavior of composite beams at the serviceability limit state is presented. The finite element procedure follows a displacement-based approach. The nonlinear load-slip relationship of shear connectors as well as the creep, shrinkage, and cracking of concrete slab are accounted for in the proposed finite element procedure. The effects of creep and shrinkage of the concrete slab are considered only for uncracked concrete. The nonlinear iterative procedure adopted for tracking the nonlinear behavior of the composite beam implemented the total nodal deformations, not the incremental deformations, as the independent variables of any iteration. The results of the proposed finite element procedure were compared with the experimental results of four composite beams reported in the literature. The proposed finite element procedure was capable of predicting the deflections and stresses of the four beams with an acceptable degree of accuracy. A parametric study was conducted to study the effect of the nonlinearity of load-slip relationship of shear connectors and the cracking of the concrete deck on the long-term behavior of simply-supported composite beams.     

Elastic rigidity of composite beams with full width slab openings

Openings often exist in the concrete slab of composite floors due to the functional requirements of structures. The strength and rigidity of steel-concrete composite beams are reduced by openings. Based on three tests of steel-concrete composite beams with full openings in the concrete flange, the elastic rigidity of composite beams is analyzed. Finite element analysis (FEA) considering the slip effect between the steel and concrete is conducted to simulate the composite beams with full openings in the concrete slab, and the results show that the FEA method is reliable. The analytical calculation method for the deflection of composite beams with full openings in the concrete slab is also proposed, and the results are verified by tests. The predicted deflections using the analytical method and FEA method both agree well with the test results. It is further verified that openings near the supports have insignificant effects on the deflection at the mid-span and this effect can be thus ignored. The simplified method to calculate the rigidity reduction factor is developed by a regression analysis. The analytical method and FEA method can be used for the serviceability limit state design of steel-concrete composite beams with full openings in the concrete flange.     

Verformungsbezogene mittragende Breite niedriger Verbundträger

Effective width due to deflections of composite girders with shallow height. Due to the high slenderness of composite girders with shallow height their deflection behaviour is of great importance. In many cases the cross sectional dimensions are determined by the limitation of the deflections. In contrary to high composite beams the deflection behaviour of these girders is influenced especially by the bending state and cracking behaviour of the concrete slab. Among others the deflection or the stiffness of the composite girders depend on the effective width of the slab. This article reports on investigations of the deflection behaviour and the effective width of shallow composite girders taking into account the bending state and the cracking of the concrete slab. At first it is shown that for the calculation of stresses a different value of the effective width has to be taken into account than for the calculation of deflections. On basis of extensive experimental, analytical and numerical investigations the influences on the effective width are analysed. A wide‐ranging parametric study leads to the development of an approach of the effective width for the calculation of deflections and a proposal for a quasi‐elastic calculation of the deflections of shallow composite girders. At this it turns out that the effective width due to deflections is influenced above all by the bending state of the concrete slab, its cracking behaviour, its ratio width to length, the ratio of the individual stiffness components of the composite cross section and the load level. On basis of the proposed approach for the calculation of the effective width the deflections of shallow composite girders can be determined realistically. This leads to a more economic design of composite shallow girders than until now.     

Experimental investigation on thermal and mechanical behaviour of composite floors exposed to standard fire

This paper presents experimental investigations on the thermal and mechanical behavior of composite floors subjected to ISO standard fire. Four 5.2 m×3.7 m composite slabs are tested with different combinations of the presence of one unprotected secondary beam, direction of ribs, and location of the reinforcement. The experimental results show that the highest temperature in the reinforcements occurs during the cooling phase (30–50 °C increment after 10-min cooling). The temperature at the unexposed side of the slabs is below 100 °C up to 100-min heating, compared to the predicted fire resistance close to 90 mins from EC4. For the slabs without secondary beams, the cracks first occur around the boundaries of the slab, while for the slabs supported by one unprotected secondary beam, concrete cracks first occur on the top of the slab above the beam due to the negative bending moment, and later on develop around boundaries. Debonding is observed between the steel deck and concrete slab. The secondary beam significantly impacts the deformation shape of tested slabs. Although a large deflection, 1/20 of the span length, is reached in the tests, the composite slabs can still provide sufficient load-bearing capacity due to membrane action. The occurrence of tensile membrane action is confirmed by the measured tensile stress in the reinforcement and compressive stress in the concrete. A comparison between measured and predicted fire resistance of the slabs indicates that EC4 calculations might be used for the composite slabs beyond the specified geometry limit, and the prediction is conservative.     

Modeling and investigation of elasto-plastic behavior of steel–concrete composite frame systems

This paper presents a mixed finite-element model combining the fibered beam and layered shell elements using the general finite-element program MSC.MARC (2005r2) based on the discussion and comparison of the previous models. The proposed modeling procedure is intended for integrated elasto-plastic analysis of fully connected steel–concrete composite frames subjected to the combined action of gravity and monotonic lateral loads. The model is verified by extensive experiments and examples, and the behavior of composite frames is also investigated intensively. The slab space composite effect and the beam–column semi-rigidity are the two critical factors influencing the structural behavior. These two factors have not been considered simultaneously in some previous models but can be both included in the proposed model. Due to the complex slab space composite effect in composite frames, the previous models with a constant-width effective flange of slab can not trace the actual nonlinear slab behavior, but the proposed model can give accurate results. Since the slip effect between the steel beam and RC slab has negligible influence on the global calculation results of the structural system verified by the calculation examples, the slip effect is neglected in the present study to simplify the modeling procedure and enhance the calculating efficiency. The proposed model possesses good accuracy and broad applicability with simple modeling procedure and high calculation efficiency, and has a great advantage for the large-scale integrated analysis of multistory and high-rise composite frames.     

考虑楼板空间组合效应的组合框架体系纤维模型

将正常使用极限状态和承载能力极限状态有效宽度公式与传统纤维模型相结合,通过修正楼板钢筋和混凝土材料的单轴本构关系,实现了一种改进的考虑楼板空间组合效应的纤维模型,利用该模型可以在组合框架体系非线性分析中采用高效的全杆系单元合理地考虑复杂楼板空间组合效应的影响。基于考虑楼板空间组合效应的纤维模型,开发了一套较为完整的组合结构非线性有限元分析程序COMPONA-MARC (Version 1.0)。最后,将开发程序应用于多个组合框架抗震试验的模拟,结果表明了本文模型可较为准确地模拟组合框架弹塑性全过程的楼板空间组合效应。     

Experimental Study on Fire Behavior of Steel–Concrete Composite Cellular Beams with Large Opening Ratio

The aim of this study is to examine the behavior of protected and unprotected steel–concrete composite I-beams with large cell diameters (D₀/H?=?0.7) and closely spaced cell configurations under the ISO 834 fire curve. Previous studies on experimental full-scale fire performances of cellular beams have been somewhat limited under vertical service loads and different insulation properties. To address this limitation, a total of four composite beams, two unprotected (one beam with a solid web, and one cellular beam) and two protected cellular beams (60 min fire resistance with implementation of water and solvent-based intumescent coatings) were tested. As outputs of the tests, the failure modes observed, such as web buckling, the Vierendeel effect, the slab behavior, including the mechanism of concrete cracking, the overall displacement behavior (i.e., deflected shapes) up to collapse at very large deflections, and temperature changes in the steel elements are discussed. It was concluded that the quality of the intumescent coating applied is crucial in achieving the desired fire resistance. Experiments showed that unprotected trapezoid deck voids did not have a decisive influence on the behavior of the beams for up to 60 min of fire testing. At high temperatures, similar crack patterns occurred in the composite slabs of the protected and unprotected steel–concrete composite cellular beams. In the protected beams, the behavior of reactive coatings was significant and resulted in a non-uniform temperature distribution in these beams’ web and flanges.

     

Control of time-dependent effects in steel-concrete composite frames

Studies are presented for the control of time-dependent effects of creep and shrinkage in steel-concrete composite frames with pre-cast concrete slab for both shored and un-shored constructions. A developed hybrid procedure has been used for carrying out the studies. The procedure accounts for creep, shrinkage and progressive cracking in concrete slab panels. Two frames, a single storey and a five storey frame are considered. It is shown that, for both the types of constructions, shored and un-shored, the increase in bending moments and mid-span deflections can be controlled to a significant degree, without putting constraints on design parameters, by simply delaying the time of mobilization of composite action between the pre-cast concrete slab panels and the steel section. It is also found that though there is insignificant effect of type of construction on bending moments, the percentage change in mid-span deflection due to creep and shrinkage is significantly higher for shored construction.     

Modeling and investigation of elasto-plastic behavior of steel–concrete composite frame systems

This paper presents a mixed finite-element model combining the fibered beam and layered shell elements using the general finite-element program MSC.MARC (2005r2) based on the discussion and comparison of the previous models. The proposed modeling procedure is intended for integrated elasto-plastic analysis of fully connected steel–concrete composite frames subjected to the combined action of gravity and monotonic lateral loads. The model is verified by extensive experiments and examples, and the behavior of composite frames is also investigated intensively. The slab space composite effect and the beam–column semi-rigidity are the two critical factors influencing the structural behavior. These two factors have not been considered simultaneously in some previous models but can be both included in the proposed model. Due to the complex slab space composite effect in composite frames, the previous models with a constant-width effective flange of slab can not trace the actual nonlinear slab behavior, but the proposed model can give accurate results. Since the slip effect between the steel beam and RC slab has negligible influence on the global calculation results of the structural system verified by the calculation examples, the slip effect is neglected in the present study to simplify the modeling procedure and enhance the calculating efficiency. The proposed model possesses good accuracy and broad applicability with simple modeling procedure and high calculation efficiency, and has a great advantage for the large-scale integrated analysis of multistory and high-rise composite frames.     

Fire tests on two-way concrete slabs in a full-scale multi-storey steel-framed building

This paper presents the results from two full-scale furnace tests conducted on two-way concrete slabs supported by composite beams in a three-storey steel-framed building. Each floor of the building consisted of nine panels (three by three) supported by composite beams. In two tests, a corner and an interior panel on the top of the building were heated by two specially designed furnaces respectively. Detailed experimental data in the form of describing slab cracking, the furnace temperatures, temperature distributions within the slab, vertical deflections and horizontal displacements are presented. Comparison of the results for the two tests indicates that the structural fire behaviour of two-way concrete slabs supported by composite beams in a multi-storey steel-framed building is highly dependent on the restraint provided by the adjacent structural members. Observations from the tests indicate that in addition to the extensive cracks formed on the top surface of the heated panels, regular cracks also occurred on the top of the adjacent unheated panels due to structural continuity and the interaction between the concrete slabs and the supporting beams. The test results show that both tested panels had good fire performances even under long duration fire conditions.     

Dynamic response of composite frames with different shear connection degree

The influence of partial composite action between concrete slab and steel beam and of partial-strength connections on the seismic response of composite frames is evaluated. To this end, experimental tests were carried out at the Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens. The specimens, one-story one-bay moment-resisting frames with steel–concrete composite beams, were tested under base acceleration on the shaking table. Experimental results demonstrated that for different degrees of partial interaction between the slab and the beam the response of the specimens varied significantly. Specimens with intermediate and low shear connection degree showed the most favourable performance, in terms of ductile behavior and energy dissipation. The slip between the slab and the beam interface contributed to the energy dissipated by the system and the ductility demands decreased on other parts like the beam ends and the joints. Then, finite element models simulating the behavior of the tested specimens were developed and, after validation, extended parametric studies were carried out. The main objective is to investigate the influence of the partial interaction and the employment of partially restrained beam-to-column joints on the dissipative capacities of composite frames under strong ground motions. Numerical results confirmed the experimental conclusions and revealed that the use of intermediate and low shear connection degrees with partial-strength joints results in an advantageous seismic design.     

Simplified nonlinear simulation of steel–concrete composite beams

A computationally efficient macro-model approach is proposed for investigating the nonlinear response of steel–concrete composite beams. The methodology accounts for material nonlinearity and interface slip between the concrete slab and the steel beam. The validity of the technique is evaluated through comparison of the macro-model-based simulations with results obtained from experimental testing of composite beams. Four full scale composite beams are tested under monotonic positive and negative bending. The results show that the proposed macro-element-model can capture the essential characteristics of the nonlinear load–deformation response of composite beams. Such an approach is a compromise between simplicity and accuracy and a viable alternative to detailed finite elements analysis. Additionally, a parametric study, including the compressive strength of slab concrete, the yield strength of the steel flanges and web, and the shear connection degree, of the steel–concrete composite beams subjected to positive moment is conducted utilizing the numerical macro-model proposed. The slips and their influences on the behaviors of composite beams during loading process have been analyzed.     

钢-混凝土组合梁在单调荷载下的变形及延性

采用栓钉等柔性抗剪连接件的钢－混凝土组合梁具有良好的延性，是组合梁按简化塑性理论方法设计的前提条件，也是为了保证组合结构在地震作用下具有良好的耗能性能。钢－混凝土简支组合梁的延性在一定的程度上受到剪力连接程度和横向配筋率的影响，本文通过对１２根梁的试验研究和对一些国内外组合梁试验结果的分析，建立了截面屈服曲率和极限曲率及等效塑性铰长度计算公式，根据这些公式得到的组合梁屈服挠度和极限挠度计算值与实测结果吻合良好。试验和分析结果表明，组合梁的延性指标要高于混凝土梁。     

钢-混凝土组合梁的简化非线性模拟

建立有效的宏观模拟方法,研究钢-混凝土组合梁的非线性性能,考虑了材料非线性和混凝土板与钢梁之间的表面滑移。通过组合梁宏观模拟和试验的对比,分析了这种方法的有效性。对单调正、反弯曲下的4根足尺组合梁进行了试验研究。结果表明:通过宏观模型能获得组合梁的非线性荷载-位移性能的重要特征。宏观模拟方法对简化形式和准确度做了权衡,是进行有限元分析的可行方法。采用数值宏观模型,进行负弯矩下钢-混凝土组合梁的参数研究,包含:混凝土板的受压强度、型钢翼缘和腹板的屈服强度、剪切连接程度。最后,对加载过程中的滑移和其对组合梁性能的影响进行了分析。