Fire Design of Concrete Structures According To The Eurocodes: A Review
Fire Design of Concrete Structures According To The Eurocodes: A Review
Fire Design of Concrete Structures According To The Eurocodes: A Review
by L.R. Taerwe
Synopsis: Whereas traditionally the verification of fire safety is based on prescriptive measures and
criteria, an evolution toward performance-based design can be noticed, which is reflected in the
design approaches given in the fire parts of Eurocodes 1 and 2. In Part 1-2 of Eurocode 11, general
design aspects of structures exposed to fire are given as well as specific load combinations, design
values of thermal and mechanical material properties, fire models, and heat transfer models. Most of
these design principles are applicable to all types of construction materials. In Part 1-2 of Eurocode 22,
specific approaches related to concrete structures are given, i.e., models giving the influence of high
temperatures on material characteristics, a method based on tabulated values, simplified verification
methods, and the basic principles of advanced calculation methods. In this paper, a review is
presented of the most relevant clauses of the mentioned documents. For practical applications, the
complete documents should be consulted.
75
76 Taerwe
1 Biography: ACI fellow Luc R. Taerwe graduated as a civil engineer at Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium) where
2 he also obtained his PhD degree (1985). He is the present director of the Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research
3 and a full professor of concrete structures at Ghent Univerity. He is a member or chairman of several international
4 technical committees (ACI, fib, IABSE, …) dealing with concrete or concrete related topics. He is a recipient of the
6
7 INTRODUCTION
8 The Structural Eurocode program comprises the following standards, which generally consist of different parts:
19 Before the introduction of the Eurocode system, no systematic and unified approach to fire safety design of
20 structures was available in most countries. With this set of codes the same design principles can be applied to
22 Each country can determine numerical values of a specified series of parameters (NDP : Nationally Determined
23 Parameters) which can be found in its National Annex. The introduction of this procedure was necessary to cope
24 with the specific backgrounds and experiences of different countries and yet to arrive at unified design formats and
25 formulae. However, the aim was to keep the number of NDP’s as small as possible.
26 Part 1-2 of Eurocode 1 (EN 1991-1-2) is entitled “General actions – Actions on structures exposed to fires” and Part
27 1-2 of Eurocode 2 (EN 1992-1-2) is entitled “General rules – structural fire design”. This latter part deals with the
28 design of concrete structures for the accidental situation of fire exposure and only covers passive methods of fire
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 77
1 protection, thus not including active measures such as sprinkler systems. Whereas traditionally fire safety is based
2 on prescriptive measures and criteria, an evolution towards performance based design can be noticed, which is based
3 on realistic fire scenarios and a probabilistic risk analysis. This latter analysis is based on the assessment of the
4 probability of fire ignition and the probability of success of safety measures including manual extinguishing,
5 sprinklers, alarm systems, intervention of fire brigades etc. The mentioned Eurocodes include basic principles and
7
8 RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
9 The system of Eurocodes offers a unified approach for fire safety design of structures built with different materials.
10 They include basic design principles for the accidental fire situation, fire models with different degrees of
11 sophistication and models for thermal an mechanical material properties which constitute the basis for a
12 performance based design. The paper presents a systematic synthesis of the major procedures and data for fire safety
13 design of concrete structures and some explanation and background information of the most current approaches.
14
15 GENERAL ASPECTS
16 Performance criteria
18 - Criterion “R” is assumed to be satisfied when the load bearing function is maintained during the required
20 - Criterion “I” may be assumed to be satisfied when the average temperature rise over the whole of the non-
21 exposed surface is limited to 140 K, and the maximum temperature rise at any point of that surface does not
22 exceed 180 K. In this way, ignition of combustable materials at that side of a compartment wall which is
24 - Criterion “E” requires that no cracks, holes or openings occur through which flames or hot gasses may
25 escape from the compartment under fire, to an adjacent compartment where no fire occurs.
26 For the standard fire exposure, members shall comply with criteria R. E and I as follows:
28 - separating function only: integrity (criterion E) and, when requested, insulation (criterion I)
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1 - separating and load bearing function: criteria R, E and, when requested, criterion I.
2 As such, the notations R30, R60, E30, E60 and I30, I60 mean that an element complies with criteria R, E and I
3 respectively during at least 30 or 60 minutes for exposure to a standard fire. The notation REI90 indicates that an
4 element complies at least during 90 minutes with the three criteria simultaneously, whereby the most critical criteria
6 The mentioned criteria are verified within a structural fire design analysis which encompasses the following steps:
7 - Selection of the relevant design fire scenarios on the basis of a fire risk assessment
8 - Determination of the corresponding design fire, which should be applied only to one fire compartment of
10 - Calculation of the temperature evolution within the structural members. For external members, fire
13 Fire models
17 - the position and size of openings in the walls which influence the ventilation conditions
18 - the fire load density which depends on the occupancy and the net calorific value of the combustible
19 materials.
20 Depending on the experience and judgment of the designer and the applicable fire regulations, a choice is made
21 between:
24 b.1) simplified fire models: compartment fires and localised fires; data for design fire loads and gas
25 temperature models based on ventilation characteristics, can found in the annexes of Part 1-2 of
26 Eurocode 1
27 b.2) advanced fire models: one-zone models, two-zone models and Computational
2 time t, expressed in minutes. No parameters related to the compartment characteristics are considered. The following
7 Tg
20 600 1 0,687 e 0,32 t 0,313 e 3,8 t >qC@ (2)
8 - Hydrocarbon curve
9 Tg
20 1080 1 0,325 e 0,167 t 0,675 e 2,5 t >qC@ (3)
11
12 MECHANICAL ACTIONS
18 In the order given, the probability of exceedance of these values increases. Typical values of ȥo, ȥ1 and ȥ2 are
19 given in Table 1.
20
21 For normal temperature design (persistent design situation), the design value Ed of an action effect is calculated from
22 the basic load combination which, in general and including prestressing, can be written as
23 ¦J
jt1
Gj G kj J P Pk J Q1 Q k1 ¦ \ 0i J Qi Q ki
i !1
(4)
3 ȖG, ȖQ , ȖP = partial safety factors; typically ȖG = 1.35; ȖQ = 1.50 and ȖP = 1.0 or 1.3
4
5 For an accidental design situation such as a fire, the following load combination is considered:
6 ¦J
jt1
GAj G kj J PA Pk J A A k \ x ,1 Q k1 ¦ \ 2,i Q ki
i !1
(5)
7 where ȖA Ak is the design value of the accidental action and ȥx,1 is equal to ȥ1,1 or ȥ2,1 depending on the national
8 choice of a country. For accidental design situations J A J GA J PA 1 and Eq. (5) becomes
9 ¦
jt1
G kj Pk A k \ x ,1 Q k1 ¦ \ 2,i Q ki
i !1
(6)
10 In the case of a fire, Ak represents the indirect actions due to the fire, caused by internal or external restraint of
11 deformations. The action effect resulting from Eq. (6) is denoted as Efi,d(t).
12 According to EN 1991-1-2, indirect actions from adjacent members need not be considered when fire safety
13 requirements refer to members under standard fire conditions. In this case Efi,d can be considered as being time
14 independent. From comparison of Eqs. (4) and (6) it follows that, in general, the ratio
E fi,d
15 Kfi (7)
Ed
16 is substantially smaller than 1. For member analysis according to EN 1992-1-2, the following simplification may be
17 applied:
18 E fi ,d Kfi E d (8)
19 with
Gk \ x,1 Q k1 1 <x,1 ]
20 K fi (9)
J G Gk J Q1 Q k1 1.35 1.50 ]
21 where ȗ = Qk1/Gk and Ed is obtained from normal temperature design. Fig. 2 shows Șfi as a function of ȗ and ȥ1,1. As
22 a simplification a recommended value of Șfi = 0.7 may be used. Application of Eq. (8) is subjected to several
24
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 81
1 MATERIAL PROPERTIES
2 Basic aspects
3 In the accidental fire situation, design values of mechanical material properties are defined as:
X k (T) kT Xk
4 X d ,fi (10)
J M ,fi J M ,fi
5 where
6 - Xk is the characteristic value of the property considered for normal temperature design
9 - ȖM,fi is the partial safety factor for the property considered; for accidental design situations the
11 The values of Xk (ș) = kș Xk are used to calculate Rfi,d (t). Values of kș for the basic mechanical properties of
12 concrete, reinforcing steel and prestressing steel can be found in EN 1992-1-2. In Figs. 3 and 4 values of kc (ș) =
13 fck(ș)/fck and ks (ș) = fyk (ș)/fyk are given. The curves shown in Fig. 3 are valid for fck d 50 MPa. For high strength
14 concrete (HSC) specific models, resulting in a steeper descent, are given Models for the influence of high
15 temperatures on the stress-strain curves and the basic physical and thermal properties of concrete and reinforcing
17
18 Explosive spalling
19 Explosive spalling of concrete shall be avoided or its influence on the performance requirements shall be taken into
20 account (e.g. reduced cross section). According to EN1992-1-2, explosive spalling is unlikely to occur when the
21 moisture content is less than 3% by weight (recommended value for NDP). Although a limitation of the Relative
22 Humidity is commonly used in some countries, it was found appropriate to put a limit on the moisture content.
23 Above 3% accurate assessment of moisture content, type of aggregate, permeability of concrete and heating rate
24 should be considered. For HSC with 55 MPa d fck d 80 MPa, the previous rules are still applicable provided that the
25 maximum content of silica fume is less than 6% by weight of cement. In case of higher silica fume contents and for
26 HSC with 80 MPa d fck d 90 MPa, specific measures should be taken to avoid spalling. A possibility is to include in
82 Taerwe
1 the concrete mix at least 2 kg/m³ of monofilament polypropylene fibres. This limit was chosen based on a wide
3
4 MECHANICAL ANALYSIS
5 Basic aspects
6 The basis of the mechanical analysis is shown schematically in Figs. 5a and 5b, where the following notations are
7 used:
8 Ed = design value of an action effect at room temperature e.g. MEd, NEd, VEd, …
9 Rd = design value of the resistance of a structural member at room temperature e.g. MRd, NRd,
10 VRd, …
11 Efi,d (t) = design value of an action effect in the fire situation at time t, including the effect of indirect actions
12 Rfi,d (t) = design value of the relevant resistance of a structural member in the fire situation at
13 time t
15 tfi,d = design value of the fire resistance, which is determined by Rfi,d (t) = Efi,d (t)
16
17 The general case of varying Efi,d(t) is shown in Fig. 5a. When indirect actions due to restrained deformations are
18 neglected, Efi,d can be considered as time-independent as assumed in Fig. 5b. Rfi,d (t) decreases in time, due to
19 material degradation under increasing temperatures of the cross-section considered. Rfi,d(0) is higher than Rd due to
20 the fact that in the accidental fire situation JM,fi = 1 whereas for the persistent design situation Jc = 1.5 and Js = 1.15.
21 Generally Rd > Ed due to the fact that for practical reasons more reinforcement is placed than strictly necessary from
23
24 The general verification format for each cross-section can be written as:
25 t fi ,d t t fi ,req (11)
26 or
2 margin between the design values Rfi,d(0) and Efi,d(0) at the onset of fire is higher than the margin between Rd an Ed
3 for ambient temperature design. This makes it possible to satisfy the basic design equation (12) during at least tfi,req
6 The reduction of the partial safety factors in the accidental fire situation is related to the fact that, although the
7 conditional probability of failure in case of fire is relatively high, the occurrence probability of a fire during the
8 design service life is quite low. Hence, the product of both probabilities should be comparable to the target failure
10
11 Design procedures
12 In order to satisfy Eq. (12) the following design methods are permitted:
15 - advanced calculation methods for simulating the behaviour of structural members, parts of the structure or
17 For beams and slabs, neglecting the effect of axial restraint generally leads to conservative results 3. For frames, the
18 axial compression forces in beams and slabs, resulting from longitudinal restraint, may result in shear failures in the
20
21 DESIGN PROCEDURE BASED ON TABULATED DATA
22 Field of application
23 The method is applicable for the verification of separate members and gives recognized design solutions for
24 standard fire exposures up to 240 minutes. In the tables, minimum values are given for the cross-sectional
25 dimensions and the axis distance of the main reinforcement. Additional detailing rules are specified for each type of
26 structural member. An advantage of the tabulated values is that a designer can quickly verify whether the
27 dimensions which follow from a normal temperature design, are acceptable under fire conditions. The following
2 - The tables have been developed on an empirical basis and confirmed by experience and theoretical
3 evaluations of tests. The values have been derived under rather conservative assumptions.
4 - The values apply to normal weight concrete made with siliceous aggregates. If calcareous or lightweight
5 aggregates are used in beams or slabs, the minimum dimensions of the cross-section may be reduced by
6 10 %
7 - When using tabulated values, no further checks are required concerning explosive spalling, shear and
9 General rules
10 1. The minimum requirements concerning section sizes and axis distance of the steel have been determined in
11 order to satisfy criterion R (load bearing function) during the specified standard fire resistance according to
12 Eq. (12). The tabulated data are based on a reference load level corresponding to Șfi = 0.7 with Șfi
14 2. In the tables, minimum concrete cover is expressed as the distance “a” from the axis of the main
15 reinforcement to the closest concrete surface (see Fig. 6). The stated axis distances are nominal values.
16 Allowance for tolerance need not be added. In part 1-1 of Eurocode 2, valid for normal temperature design,
17 the concrete cover “c” is defined as the distance from the edge of a reinforcing bar to the closest concrete
18 surface. Hence, for a longitudinal rebar (main reinforcement) with diameter Ibar, the relation between “a”
19 and “c” typically can be written as a = c + Istirrup + Ibar/2 with Istirrup the stirrup diameter.
20 3. The minimum axis distance of reinforcement located in tensile zones of simply supported beams and slabs,
21 was calculated on the basis of a critical steel temperature șcr = 500 °C. The critical temperature is that
22 temperature for which the steel yields under the steel stress ıs,fi occurring in the fire situation. For
23 prestressing tendons, the critical temperature for bars is assumed to be 400 °C and for strands and wires to
24 be 350 °C.
25 Columns
26 For assessing the fire resistance of columns, two methods (A and B), are provided, which are applicable within
27 certain limits of the influencing parameters. As an example, Table 2 gives values of "bmin"and "a" for columns with
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 85
1 rectangular or circular cross-section according to method A. In this method, the load level in the fire situation is
N Ed ,fi K fi N Ed
3 µ fi (13)
N Rd N Rd
4 Where NEd,fi is the design value of the applied axial load which follows from Eq. (6) and N Rd A s f yd A c f cd
5 is the design value of the resisting axial force under normal temperature conditions. Fig. 5b shows the relative
7 In method A, also a formula is given which allows to calculate the standard fire resistance (in minutes) for other
9
10 Other members
11 In EN 1992-1-2, similar tables are given for load-bearing and non load-bearing walls, tensile members, simply
12 supported and continuous beams and solid slabs, flat and ribbed slabs. By way of example, table 3 is given which is
14 In continuous beams and slabs, thermal moments Mș develop during heating due to restraint of the thermal rotations.
15 This phenomenon is shown schematically in Fig. 7 for a beam clamped at both ends. Mainly during the first 30
16 minutes, the moment line shifts towards more negative values (line 1). In some cases, the zone with positive
17 moments can disappear completely (line 2). If no upper reinforcement is provided in that zone, a hinge can occur in
18 the middle section. For this reason it is required that in continuous beams and slabs at least 25 % of the upper
19 reinforcement is placed at the intermediate supports, continuous over a distance of at least 0.3 leff towards the
20 adjacent spans.
21
22 SIMPLIFIED CALCULATION METHODS
23 General
24 Simplified calculation methods may be used to determine the ultimate load-bearing capacity of a heated cross
25 section and to compare the capacity with the action effect resulting from Eq. (6). In 1992-1-2 the following methods
26 are mentioned :
86 Taerwe
1 - Informative annex B provides two alternative methods, B.1 “500°C isotherm method” and B.2 “Zone
2 method” for calculating the resistance to bending moments and axial forces. Second order effects may be
4 - Informative annex C provides a zone method for analyzing column sections with significant second order
5 effects.
6 - Informative annex D provides a simplified calculation method for shear, torsion and anchorage.
7 - Informative annex E provides a simplified calculation method for the design of beams and slabs.
8
9 Temperature profiles
10 The basis of all simplified methods are the temperature profiles in the considered cross section. In Annex A, several
11 temperature profiles are given for typical cross-sections with siliceous aggregates for 30, 60, …, 240 minutes
12 exposure to a standard fire. The temperature profiles are conservative for most other aggregates. By way of example,
13 fig. 8 shows the temperature profiles in a slab (thickness 200 mm) for one-sided exposure.
14
15 500°C isotherm method
16 The method is based on the hypothesis that concrete at a temperature above 500°C is neglected (kc = 0) in the
17 calculation of the load-bearing capacity, while concrete at a temperature below 500°C is assumed to retain its full
18 strength (kc = 1). The characteristics of the reinforcing and prestressing steel are determined according to the local
19 temperature. The method is applicable to reinforced and prestressed concrete sections with respect to axial load,
22 - determine the 500°C isotherm by mean of the information provided in annex A for the specified fire
23 exposure.
24 - determine the reduced width bfi and the reduced effective depth dfi of the cross-section by excluding the
25 concrete outside the 500°C isotherm. The rounded shape of the isotherms is approximated by rectangles.
26 - determine the temperature of the reinforcing bars in the tension and compression zones by means of the
27 available temperature profiles. Also the bars outside the reduced cross section are considered.
28 - calculate the reduced value fyk(T) for each bar from the ks(T)-temperature curves.
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 87
1 - calculate the resisting moment MRd,fi according to the methods for normal temperature design, taking into
2 account the reduced cross section and the modified material properties.
4
5 Continuous beams and slabs
6 The verification is based on plastic limit analysis, assuming that sufficient rotation capacity is available at the
M Rd1,fi M Rd 2,fi
8 M Rd ,fi ,span t M Ed ,fi (14)
2
9 with
w Ed ,fi " 2
10 M Ed ,fi (15)
8
11 where wEd,fi follows from Eq. (6). Eq. (14) expresses that the statically determined parabolic bending moment line
13
14 CONCLUSIONS
15 - Common rules regarding general verification formats and load combinations for the accidental fire situation
16 are given in Part 1-2 of Eurocode 1 (EN 1991-1-2). Thus a unified approach is available with the advantage
18 - Models giving the influence of high temperatures on concrete properties are given in Part 1-2 of Eurocode
20 - The tabulated values for minimum cross-section size and axis distance of the main reinforcement given in
21 EN 1992-1-2, allow a fast verification of the cross-section for the required fire resistance time. The values
22 are based on a synthesis of experimental data, numerical simulations and field experience.
23 - Simplified design methods (e.g. the 500°C isotherm method), which are an extension of those valid for
24 normal temperature design, are given in EN 1992-1-2. Thus a fast verification of the fire resistance of
26
88 Taerwe
1 REFERENCES
2 1. EN 1991-1-2 : Eurocode 1 – Actions on structures – Part 1-2 : General actions – Actions on structures exposed to
4 2. EN 1992-1-2 : Eurocode 2 : Design of concrete structures – Part 1-2 : General Rules – Structural Fire design,
6 3. Riva P., Nonlinear and plastic analysis of reinforced concrete beams, Proceedings of the Workshop “Fire Design
7 of Concrete Structures: What now? What next?”, Starrylink Editrice, 2005, Brescia, Italy.
8
9 Table 1–Values of ȥ0, ȥ1, and ȥ2 according to EN 1990
Occupancy ȥ0 ȥ1 ȥ2
Residential 0.7 0.5 0.3
Office 0.7 0.5 0.3
Storage 1.0 0.9 0.8
10
11
12 Table 2– Combinations bmin/a for columns with rectangular or circular cross-section (dimensions in mm)
Standard fire Fire exposure on more than one side One-sided exposure
resistance µfi = 0.2 µfi = 0.5 µfi = 0.7 µfi = 0.7
R 30 200/25 200/25 200/32 155/25
300/27
R 60 200/25 200/36 250/46 155/25
300/31 350/40
R 90 200/31 300/45 350/53 155/25
300/25 400/38 450/40
R 120 250/40 350/45 350/57 175/35
350/35 450/40 450/51
R 180 350/45 350/63 450/70 230/55
R 240 350/61 450/75 - 295/70
13
14 Table 3 – Minimum thickness and axis distance for reinforced and prestressed simply supported one-way and
1400
1200
Temperature șg [°C]
1000
800
600
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Time t [min]
2
4
5
6
7
8 Fig. 2 - Variation of the reduction factor ] = Qk1/Gk
90 Taerwe
1
2
3
4 Fig. 3 - Variation of the Coefficient kc(T) for normalweight concrete
6
7
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 91
1
2 Fig. 4 - Variation of the coefficient ks(T)
5 Curve 3 : Compression reinforcement and tension reinforcement for strains Hs,fi < 2 %
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
92 Taerwe
1
2 (a)
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 (b)
1
2
3 Fig. 6 - Nominal axis distance and other typical cross-sectional dimensions
5
6
7 Fig. 7 - Shift of the bending moment line in a clamped beam during fire exposure
9
10
11
12
13
14
94 Taerwe
1
2 Fig. 8 - Temperature profiles for slabs (thickness 200 mm) for R30, R60, …, R240
3
Designing Concrete Structures for Fire Safety 95
1
2 Fig. 9 - Reduced cross section of reinforced concrete beams and column
4
5 Fig. 10 - Positioning of the free bending moment diagram MEd,fi to establish equilibrium
6
96 Taerwe