Effect of high temperature

according to behaviour or properties

1. Chemical: Decomposition, charring.
2. Physical: Variation in density (r), softening,
melting, spalling.
3. Mechanical: Strength as measured by yield
or peak stressed ( fy for steel and fcu for
concrete), stiffness as measured by the
modulus of elasticity (E), creep, coefficient of
thermal expansion (a).
4. Thermal: Thermal conductivity (k), specific
heat (c).
 Chemical changes such as decomposition and
charring are specific to wood.

 Physical effects such as spalling happen in

concrete and masonry.

 Steels soften and creep but are unlikely to

melt at the maximum temperatures
experienced in normal fires.
 Steel
 Steels are very good conductors

 liable to heat up very quickly in fires if not

insulated.

 The rate of heating depends upon the

parameters of thermal conductivity,
specific heat and density.

 The coefficient of thermal expansion of

steel, increases slightly with temperature.
 steel
 steel is incombustible and it can fully recover its strength
following a fire

 During the fire steel absorbs a significant amount of

thermal energy.

 After exposure to fire, steel returns to a stable condition

after cooling to ambient temperature.

 During this cycle of heating and cooling, individual steel

members may become slightly bent or damaged, without
affecting the stability of the whole structure.

 steel members be salvaged following a post-fire review of

a fire affected steel structure.
steel begins to lose strength at
temperatures above 300°C and reduces
in strength at steady rate up to 800°C.
 The small residual strength then
reduces more gradually until the
melting temperature at around 1500°C.

 Using the principle “ If the member is

straight after exposure to fire – the
steel is O.K”, many steel members
could be left undisturbed for the rest
of their service life.
 In addition to the reduction of material
strength and stiffness, steel displays a
significant creep phenomena at temperatures
over 450°C.

 The phenomena of creep results in an increase

of deformation (strain) with time, even if the
temperature and applied stress remain
unchanged

 High temperature creep is dependent on the

stress level and heating rate.
 The yield stress of steel remains unchanged
up to a temperature of about 215oC and then
loses its strength gradually.
 The variations of the non-dimensional
modulus of elasticity, yield strength and
coefficient of thermal expansion with respect to
temperature
 Methods of fire protection
 dependent on the fire load, fire rating and
the type of structural members.

 Spray protection:
 The thickness of spray protection
depends on the fire rating required
and size of the job.
 low cost system and could be applied
rapidly.
 due to its undulating finish, it is usually
preferred in surfaces
 Board protection:

 This is effective but an expensive

method.

 Board protection is used on columns

or exposed beams.

 no preparation of steel is necessary prior

to applying the protection.
 Intumescent coating:

 These coatings expand and form an insulating layer

around the member when the fire breaks out.

 useful in visible steelwork with moderate fire protection

requirements.

 does not increase the overall dimensions of the member.

 Certain thick and expensive intumescent coatings will

give about 2-hour fire protection.

 require blast cleaned surface and a priming coat.

 Concrete encasement:

 This used to be the traditional fire proofing

method but is not employed in structures built
presently.

 The composite action of the steel and concrete can

provide higher load resistance in addition to high fire
resistance.

 results in increases dead weight loading compared to a

protected steel frame.

 carbonation of concrete aids in encouraging corrosion of

steel and the presence of concrete effectively hides the
steel in distress until it is too late.
 Fire resistant steel
 thermo-mechanically treated (TMT) steels
which perform better structurally under fire

 The fire resistant steels exhibit a minimum of

two thirds of its yield strength at room
temperature when subjected to a heating of
about 600oC.

 Fire resistant steels are weldable without pre-

heating and are commercially available in the
market as joists, channels and angles.
 Concrete
 Concrete is a non homogenous material whose fire
performance is controlled by that of the aggregate and
the cement paste.

 concrete exposed to fire beyond 600oC, may undergo

an irreversible degradation in mechanical strength
and spolling

 Concrete has a low thermal conductivity (50 times

lower than steel) and therefore heats up very slowly in
a fire.

 It is the low thermal conductivity that provides good

inherent fire resistance of concrete structures.
 Concrete
 Concrete has excellent fire resistance
properties and maintains its integrity and
strength in very high temperatures.

 The thermal properties of concrete depend

upon the aggregate type used, due to
chemical changes (crystal structure) in
aggregate compounds.

 Siliceous aggregate concretes have a tendency

to spall due to high thermal conductivity
 The strength loss in concrete is slow because of
the low thermal diffusivity.

 One of the most destructive effects of fire on

concrete is spalling (loss of surface material),
which ranges from superficial surface damage
to explosive blowout of large chunks of
material.

 The intensity of spalling generally depends

upon the type of aggregate used
 In severe fires volume changes may be rapid
enough to cause excessive internal stresses and
cause the surface layers to spall, thus exposing
the reinforcement, which can lead to loss of
load-bearing capacity.

 rapid cooling can also cause spalling, a situation

that may occur in extinguishing fires with water.

 areas of concrete or masonry under high

compressive stress may spall at relatively lower
temperatures further away from the hottest
regions.
 All concrete contains some moisture and
continues to absorb moisture as it ages.

 When heated, this moisture content will

expand, causing the concrete to crack or spall.
 Reinforcing steel that has been exposed to a fire
can transmit heat within the concrete, causing
catastrophic spalling and failure of the
structure.
 concrete is a heat sink and tends to absorb and
retain heat rather than conduct it.
 This heat is not easily reduced.
 Concrete can stay hot long after the fire is out,
causing additional thermal stress
 A) Condition of plaster and finish
 unaffected, peeling, substantial loss, total loss and destroyed.
 B) Color
 fire decolouration takes place and the possible change in concrete is
normal, pink, whitish grey and puff.
 C) Crazing
 These fine cracks are restricted to surface layer and no structural
significance on material has been accounted for.
 D) Spalling of concrete
 Five types of spalling considered; unaffected, minor, localized to
corners, considerable to corners and all surface spalled.
 E) Exposure condition of reinforcements correlation
 indication of the buckling condition of the main reinforcements.
 F) Cracks
 Cracking is classified as minor and major with the recording of
length of cracks
 G) Distortion
 none,, slight but insignificant and severe and significant.
 H) Delamination of concrete
 Repair Requirements
 Class 1 Superficial For repair, use cement
mortar trowelling using cement slurry bonding

 Class 2 restoring cover to reinforcement using

cement polymer slurry as bonding layer and
nominal light fabric reinforcement or using
epoxy mortar

 Class 3 shotcreting in case of slabs and beams

and jacking in case of columns.

 Class 4 Major repair demolition

 Timber
timber is classified as combustible material
 not easily ignitable, but formation of char after
ignition

 The analysis of char patterns and relative

depth and appearance can provide vital clues
about the spread of fire.

 Light timber construction is protected from

fire by fire resistant cladding materials, while
heavy timber construction has good inherent
fire resistance because a char layer is formed
that retards the heat penetration.
 When heavy timber members are exposed to a fire, the
temperature of the fire exposed surface of the members is
close to fire temperature.
 When the outer layer of wood reaches its burning point
(about 300°C), the wood ignites and burns rapidly.
 The burned wood becomes a layer of char which loses all
strength but retains a role as an insulating layer preventing
excessive temperature rise in the core.
 The low conductivity of char will cause a steep thermal
gradient across the char layer.
 Underneath the char layer, there is a layer of heated wood
with a temperature of above 200°C, which is known as the
pyrolysis zone.
 This part of wood is undergoing irreversible chemical
decomposition caused solely by a rise in temperature,
accompanied by loss of weight and discolouration.
 The inner core wood is slightly
temperature affected with some loss of
strength and stiffness properties, mainly
due to the moisture evaporation in the
wood.

 The charring rate is more or less constant

and depends on the density and moisture
content of the wood and heat exposure.
 The fire performance of timber is dependent
on the charring rate and the loss in strength
and modulus of elasticity.

 Strength and stiffness properties depend on

temperature and moisture content.

 Due to large variation in the type and

quality of timber, a system of strength
classes has been established to group grades
and species with similar strength properties.
 In terms of its mechanical behaviour, wood is an
orthotropic material, with considerably different
properties parallel and perpendicular to the grain

 Strength reduction in wood begins as soon as it is

heated.

 Compressive strength reduces at a higher rate than

tensile strength.

 The loss of strength in timber sections can also be

considered proportional to the rate of char formation.
 Timber does not expand on heating like steel and
concrete and therefore does not threaten adjoining
masonry in the same manner.
 Masonry
 Structural masonry is an assembly of masonry
units of bricks or concrete or stone blocks,
bonded together with mortar

 masonry is good in compression but brittle

and weak in tension.

 Fire resistance of masonry constructions is

always measured on structural elements, such
as block or brickwork walls and columns, and
there are no requirements for individual units
or the bonding mortar.
 masonry walls have excellent fire resistance,
provided that the foundations and supporting
structure can keep the wall in place during the
fire.

 thermal bowing of very tall unreinforced

cantilever masonry walls due to a severe fire on
one side of the wall can lead to collapse

 minimum thickness of masonry walls of various

types of construction to give a stated fire
resistance period ranging from 30 minutes up to
6 hours.
 for a given material type, fire resistance
increases with:

1. Thickness
2. Thermal resistance of the body material
3. Absorbed or combined water content
4. Any non-combustible applied finishes,
especially insulating plasters and
renders
 Masonry
 Masonry consisting of either brick-work or of
concrete block-work is inherently stable in fire.

 Masonry suffer integrity failure when fire loads are

excessive.

 Bricks can withstand temperatures of around a 1000C

and they melt at about 1400 C.

 reduce the strength of the concrete and the mortar by

the gradual dehydration of the cement and by the
expansion and changes in the physical properties of
the aggregate.
 wall strength

 Reduction in wall strength varied

from a minimum 30 percent to the
maximum reduction of 60 percent

 The modulus of elasticity (E) after

fire exposure was always less than
that before exposure.
 Mortar Joints
 softened by the dehydration of the cement to a depth of
1/2 to 3/4 in. (12.7 to 19.1 mm) from exposed face and
usually appeared to be more affected by fire exposure
than the adjacent surface of the masonry units.

 When concrete masonry walls are subjected to the

water hose stream immediately after fire exposure,
mortar in the dehydrated condition observed in the
tests is sometimes flushed out to a depth of about 1/4
in.

 the loss of mortar does not affect the load carrying

ability of the concrete masonry wall.
 Cracking
 Thermal expansion and attendant minor cracking
does occur when concrete masonry walls are
subjected to severe fire.

 Expansion will vary with the type of aggregate.

 for aggregates having a relatively high thermal
expansion, measured wall expansion increased
markedly as the proportion of coarse to fine
particles increased, and as the density increased.

 two or three vertical cracks were formed on the

unexposed face of the wall during the first half hour
of fire exposure.
 Spalling
 In no case was there any spalling of the concrete
during or after fire exposure.

 An occasional local disruption and pitting of

aggregate particles at the exposed face

 Plaster
 adds to fire resistance and to the wall strength
after fire exposure.

 Fusion
 no fusion occurred in walls