Behavior of high strength concrete columns under design fire scenarios

Reinforced concrete structural members possess good fire resistance properties and their performance under fire condition is influenced by a number of parameters including concrete strength, fire scenario and load level. There is limited information on the behavior of high strength concrete (HSC) columns under realistic fire, loading and restraint conditions. A numerical model, in the form of a computer program, is presented for tracing the response of RC columns under fire exposure. The validity of the numerical model is established by comparing the predictions from the computer program with results from full-scale fire resistance tests. The validated model is applied in a parametric study to quantify the effect of fire scenario on the fire performance of normal strength concrete (NSC) and HSC columns. Results from the numerical studies indicate that the fire scenario have significant influence on the performance of RC columns and higher fire resistance can be obtained under most design firescenarios. Also, the results indicate that HSC columns can provide good fire resistance performance even under severe fire scenarios.