Non-linear fire-resistance analysis of reinforced concrete beams

The non-linear structural analysis of reinforced concrete beams in fire consists of three separate steps: (i) The estimation of the rise of surrounding air temperature due to fire; (ii) the determination of the distribution of the temperature within the beam during fire; (iii) the evaluation of the mechanical response due to simultaneous time-dependent thermal and mechanical loads. Steps (ii) and (iii) are dealt with in the present paper. We present a two-step computational procedure where a 2D transient thermal analysis over the cross-sections of beams are made first, followed by mechanical analysis of the structure. Fundamental to the accuracy of the mechanical analysis is a new planar beam finite element. The effects of plasticity in concrete, and plasticity and viscous creep in steel are taken into consideration. The properties of concrete and steel along with the values of their thermal and mechanical parameters are taken according to the European standard ENV 1992-1-2 (1995). The comparison of our numerical and full-scale experimental results shows that the proposed mechanical and 2D thermal computational procedure is capable to describe the actual response of reinforced concrete beam structures to fire