Fires Following Earthquake Fragility Functions for Protected Steel Braced Frames

Abstract

The paper describes the outcomes of the analysis of a steel braced frame protected with spray-applied fire resistive material and subjected to fires following earthquake (FFE). Nonlinear time-history analyses were performed in order to evaluate the seismic response. Then, the post-earthquake fire ignitions within selected compartments were considered based on the damage suffered by the structure, which was estimated according to the inter-storey drift ratio and floor acceleration. Natural fire curves were determined by means of zone models. Thus, compartmentation and opening characteristics were included in the analysis. Finally, thermomechanical analyses were completed and failure criteria based on the column and beam displacement and rate of displacement were investigated. The results of the probabilistic analyses were used to produce fragility functions to evaluate the probability of exceeding a limit state conditioned on an intensity measure in the context of FFE.