Review: development of performance-based fire design for cold-formed steel

Abstract

Performance-based fire design for cold-formed steel systems is in its infancy. This paper brings together existing research on cold-formed steel materials, members, and assemblages at elevated temperatures; and complementary analysis and design methods necessary for the development of analysis-based design for cold-formed steel systems under fire. Cold-formed steel systems have become popular in building construction as both load-bearing and non-load-bearing elements, primarily due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and ease of construction. Consequently, design specifications, and structural analysis tools have rapidly evolved to facilitate engineering design of these complex thin-walled members. However, in fires the performance of cold-formed steel systems are assured by prescriptive detailing and standardized testing. Today, engineering knowledge is rapidly advancing, providing the opportunity to contemplate, analysis-based design as an enabling tool for general performance-based engineering of cold-formed steel systems for fire. The review provided here includes experimental results on mechanical and thermal properties of cold-formed steel and temperature dependent constitutive relations, subsystem testing and computational simulations, and analysis models and exploratory methods for fire design, i.e., the building blocks towards performance-based fire design for cold-formed steel systems.