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Steel and Composite Structures
  Volume 6, Number 2, April 2006 , pages 159-182
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2006.6.2.159
 


Temperature distribution in a full-scale steel framed building subject to a natural fire
Frantisek Wald, Magdalena Chladna, David Moore, Aldina Santiago and Tom Lennon

 
Abstract
    Current fire design codes for determining the temperature within the structural elements that form part of a complete building are based on isolated member tests subjected to the standard fire. However, the standard time-temperature response bears little relation to real fires and doesn\'t include the effects of differing ventilation conditions or the influence of the thermal properties of compartment linings. The degree to which temperature uniformity is present in real compartments is not addressed and direct flame impingement may also have an influence, which is not considered. It is clear that the complex thermal environmental that occurs within a real building subject to a natural fire can only be addressed using realistic full-scale tests. To study global structural and thermal behaviour, a research project was conducted on the eight storey steel frame building at the Building Research Establishment\'s Cardington laboratory. The fire compartment was 11 m long by 7 m wide. A fire load of 40 kg/m2 was applied together with 100% of the permanent actions and variable permanent actions and 56% of live actions. This paper summarises the experimental programme and presents the time-temperature development in the fire compartment and in the main supporting structural elements. Comparisons are also made between the test results and the temperatures predicted by the structural fire Eurocodes.
 
Key Words
    fire design; full-scale tests; steel and composite structures; temperature.
 
Address
Frantisek Wald; Dept. of Steel and Timber Structures, CTU Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Th?urova 7, 166 29 Praha 6, Czech RepublicrnMagdalena Chladna; Dept. of Civil Engineering, Technical Univ., Bratislava, Slovak RepublicrnDavid Moore; BCSA-British Constructional Steelwork Association, London, UKrnAldina Santiago; Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Coimbra, Polo II - Pinhal de Marrocos, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal rnTom Lennon; Building Research Establishment, Garston, UK
 

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