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Numerical Modelling and Benchmark Study of Fire Resistance of Stainless Steel Structural Elements

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Abstract

The validation of numerical models, for the behaviour of structures in case of fire, is crucial for the development of precise and safe design rules for members at elevated temperatures and for the application of advanced calculation methods, on part or complete building structures under fire. Recently, a new constitutive law model for stainless steel at elevated temperatures, based on a two-stage Ramberg–Osgood formulation, was proposed for inclusion in the second generation of Part 1–2 of Eurocode 3 (EC3). In order to better understand the fire behaviour of stainless steel structures and the influence of the abovementioned new constitutive law, the respective formulation was implemented in the SAFIR finite element program. In this work, after validation of that implementation against chosen benchmark tests, different numerical and experimental fire tests obtained from the literature are numerically modelled, considering axially compressed columns, beams and eccentrically loaded columns.

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Acknowledgements

This research work was performed within the framework of the project “StaSteFi – Fire design of stainless steel members”, PTDC/ECI-EGC/30655/2017, supported by the Portuguese Operational Programme “Competitividade e Internacionalização”, in its FEDER/FNR component, and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in its State Budget component (OE). J. Pinho-da-Cruz thanks the financial support of projects UIDB/00481/2020 and UIDP/00481/2020 – FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; and CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-022083 – Centro Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Centro2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund. Carlos Couto thanks the financial support of FCT, under the Scientific Employment Stimulus – Institutional Call – CEECINST/00026/2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TEMA – Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    J. Pinho-da-Cruz

  2. RISCO – Research Center for Risks and Sustainability in Construction, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    N. Lopes, P. Vila Real & C. Couto

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  1. J. Pinho-da-Cruz
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  2. N. Lopes
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  3. P. Vila Real
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  4. C. Couto
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Correspondence to N. Lopes.

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Pinho-da-Cruz, J., Lopes, N., Vila Real, P. et al. Numerical Modelling and Benchmark Study of Fire Resistance of Stainless Steel Structural Elements. Fire Technol 58, 2949–2979 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-022-01286-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10694-022-01286-3

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