A Priori Round Robin Study of the Calculated Response of Loaded Steel Beam to a Furnace Test

Abstract

This paper reports on a round robin study of the calculated response of structures in fire. In this instance, the tests which the study is based on are two fire tests which were conducted on two steel beams at SP’s fire resistance laboratory in Sweden. The two specimens in the test were identical having come from the same cast flow. The tests were conducted according to EN 1365-3 and the steel beams had a total length 5.4 m, spanning 5.2 m. The calculations were conducted by different groups ‘a priori’ and ‘a posteriori’ to the test itself. In the first instance a prediction of the response was made without knowledge of the measured temperatures of the steel beam, and in the second the participants were given the measured temperatures from the steel beam and asked to refine their model. This paper reports on the first stage results only. Statistical analysis of the round robin are presented to illustrate the variation which arises in the results of calculations The results of the round robin study highlight the fire research and testing community’s capability for modelling this simple case as well as the uncertainty in the calculation results. Future publications will include the 2nd stage round robin conducted ‘a posteriori’ and it is our intention to carry out future round robins with more complex structures and assemblies which will supplement this work