Fire Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Columns with Square Cross Section

Abstract

Calculation of the fire resistance of 480 square cross section normal strength concrete (NSC) columns and 480 high strength concrete (HSC) columns, made with siliceous aggregate, is presented in this paper. The variables considered in the study include concrete strength (NSC and HSC), dimension of column cross section, axial load ratio, load eccentricity ratio (i.e., ratio of load eccentricity to dimension of column cross section), and steel ratio (i.e., ratio of longitudinal reinforcement to cross-sectional area of column). Explosive spalling of HSC exposed to fire is also considered approximately. Simulation results show that: (1) increasing the dimension of column cross section, reducing the axial load ratio, and reducing the load eccentricity ratio are all effective measures for improving the fire resistance of both NSC and HSC columns subjected to concentric axial load or eccentric axial load; (2) increasing the steel ratio has no significant influence on the fire resistance of concentrically loaded NSC and HSC columns, but has some positive effect on the fire resistance of eccentrically loaded NSC and HSC columns; (3) explosive spalling of HSC has a significant detrimental influence on the fire resistance of HSC columns. Based on simulation results, a simplified formula is empirically developed to enable determination of the fire resistance of both NSC and HSC columns, and is shown to be applicable to concrete columns with square cross section.