Full-scale testing of a damaged reinforced concrete frame in fire

Abstract

Fires are a relatively likely event following earthquakes in urban locations and in general are an integral part of the emergency response strategies, which are focused on life safety in most developed economies. Similarly, building regulations in most countries require engineers to consider the effect of seismic and fire loading on structures to provide an adequate level of resistance to these hazards; however, this is only on a separate basis. To the authors' knowledge there are no current regulations that require buildings to consider these hazards in a sequential manner to quantify the compound loading and design for the required resistance. This paper provides a first and early report from a novel set of tests on a full-scale reinforced concrete frame subjected to simulated earthquake and fire loads. The results from the first test indicate that the test frame could withstand a pre-damage corresponding to a seismic performance level and subsequent 1 h fire exposure without collapse. Important observations have been made about the development of temperatures and displacements in the various structural elements during the mechanical loading and subsequent fire excursion.