Thermal analysis of steel-concrete composite cross sections via CS-ASA/FA

Abstract

When exposed to high temperatures, such as in a fire situation, the physical and resistance characteristics of the materials employed in the structure deteriorate as the temperature increases. This fact promotes a considerable loss in the bearing capacity and stiffness of the structural system. The verification of a structure exposed to fire depends primarily and principally on the thermal analysis of the cross section of the structural element. This analysis permits determination of the temperature variation or temperature range in the element from the boundary conditions provided by the fire model adopted. As such, this study had the objective of performing a thermal analysis in a transient regime by means of a finite element method on steel-concrete composite cross sections that are employed in civil construction through use of the Computational System for Advanced Structural Analysis/Fire Analysis (CS-ASA/FA). Two cross sections are analyzed and the results obtained were satisfactory. In addition, different iterative solution processes were adopted in the analysis. Parametric studies were also performed related to the mesh variation of the finite elements and time increase. From the results, it was possible to conclude that CS-ASA/FA can supply the necessary information when a thermo-structural analysis is performed for the evaluation of strength and stiffness losses of the structural material when exposed to fire.