Review of available engineering methodologies for prediction of temperature development in unprotected structural steel elements exposed to fire

The recent introduction of structural Eurocodes in the member states of CEN provides engineers with a consistent framework for design verification of the fire resistance periods for loadbearing structural elements. One of the key steps in the verification procedure of the fire resistance achieved by a loadbearing element is the determination of the internal temperature for the structural element being considered. The paper compares results of simplified temperature calculations for steel and composite elements carried out in accordance with EN 1993-1-2 and EN 1994-1-2 as well as predictions of the element’s temperature made using a CFD model called Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) with publicly available results of recent fire tests carried out in Europe. The main factors influencing the uncertainty of heat transfer calculations are discussed.

VII Międzynarodowa Konferencja “Bezpieczeństwo Pożarowe Obiektów Budowlanych”, Warszawa, 2012
Autor: Piotr Smardz