FIRE RESISTANCE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE

Anupama Krishna. D
Research Scholar
Department of Civil Engineering College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala
Narayanan S
Prof. & Head of Department,
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Mohandas College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala
Mini Soman
Associate Professor,
Dept. of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala
ABSTRACTExposure to elevated temperature is an extreme condition that leads to change in materials properties, and
consequently change in the overall behaviour. Elevated temperature has potential to cause major damage in buildings. Fire
response of concrete structural members is dependent on the thermal, mechanical and deformation properties of concrete
and reinforcing steel.The elevated temperatures cause reduction in strength and stiffness of steel, leading to failure due to
excessive deformation. The performance of steel structures at elevated temperature depends on many factors such as
severity of fire, material properties and degree of protection. Concrete generally provides the best fire resistance properties
among different building materials. This is due to its constituent materials which, when chemically combined, form a
material that is essentially inert and has low thermal conductivity, high heat capacity and slower strength degradation with
temperature. The slow rate of heat transfer and strength loss enables concrete to act as an effective fire shield between
adjacent spaces and protect itself from fire damage. This paper studies the state of the art of the thermal, mechanical and
deformation properties of concrete and reinforcing steel and compares and summarizes the relevant provisions in reinforced
concrete codes in graphical form.
KeywordsThermal properties, mechanical properties, deformation properties, excessive deformation