Structural Behavior under Localized Fire Action—Modelled Using an Integrated Computational Tool

Abstract

An integrated computational tool ‘SIFBuilder’ was developed to model the global behaviour of structures subjected to various fire scenarios. This OpenSees based tool is currently capable of performing weakly coupled sequential analyses and able to automatically apply idealised fire actions to the structure including localised fires. A few illustrative cases are thereafter conducted to demonstrate the usage of SIFBuilder, presenting the global response of a generic 2×2×2 frame building subjected to different fire actions. Two types of idealised fire scenarios are considered for the building, which include an idealised uniform fire (one hour standard fire) occurring in one confined compartment, and an idealised non-uniform fire (0.5 hour Eurocode 1 localised fire) assumed to wrap symmetrically around the central column. Greater slab deflections are observed in the case of confined compartment fire, whereas collapse may occur in the central column due to the exposure to localized fire.