Approach for shear capacity evaluation of fire exposed steel and composite beams

A simplified approach for evaluating degradation of shear capacity in fire exposed steel and composite beams is presented. This approach takes into account temperature-induced strength degradation, and sectional instability effects, as well as level of composite action developed at the beam-slab interface. The validity of the approach in evaluating shear capacity of fire exposed steel and composite beams is established by comparing predictions from the proposed approach with results obtained from finite element analysis and fire tests. Results generated from numerical studies and illustrative examples infer that the proposed approach can evaluate degradation in shear capacity of fire exposed steel and composite beams under wide range of loading scenarios.