Fire performance of earthquake-damaged reinforced concrete columns: an experimental study

Chinthapalli, Hemanth Kumar and Agarwal, Anil (2022) Fire performance of earthquake-damaged reinforced concrete columns: an experimental study. Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, 13 (1). pp. 67-87. ISSN 2040-2317

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

Purpose: Earthquake tremors not only increase the chances of fire ignition but also hinder the fire-fighting efforts due to the damage to the lifelines of a city. Most of the international codes have independent recommendations for structural safety against earthquake and fire. However, the possibility of a multi-hazard event, such as fire following an earthquake is seldom addressed. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents an experimental study of Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns in post-earthquake fire (PEF) conditions. An experimental approach is proposed that allows the testing of a column instead of a full structural frame. This approach allows us to control the loading and boundary conditions individually and facilitates the testing under a variety of these conditions. Also, it allows the structure to be tested until failure. The role of parameters, such as earthquake intensity, axial load ratio and the ductile detailing of the column on the earthquake damage and subsequently the fire performance of the structure, is studied in this research. Six RC column specimens are tested under a sequence of quasi-static earthquake loading, followed by combined fire and axial compression loading conditions. Findings: The experiment results indicate that ductile detailed columns subjected to 4% or less lateral drift did not lose significant load-carrying capacity in fire conditions. A lateral drift of 6% caused significant damage to the columns and reduced the load-carrying capacity in fire conditions. The level of the axial load acting on the column at the time of earthquake loading was found to have a very significant effect on the extent of damage and reduction in column load capacity in fire conditions. The columns that were not detailed for a ductile behavior observed a more significant reduction in axial load carrying capacity in fire conditions. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to columns of 230 mm size due to the limitations of the test setup. The applicability of these findings to larger column sections needs to be verified by developing a numerical analysis methodology and simulating other post-earthquake-fire tests available in the literature. Originality/value: The experimental procedure proposed in this paper offers an alternative to the testing of a complete structural frame system for PEF behavior. In addition to the ease of conducting the tests, the procedure also allows much better control over the heating, structural loading and boundary conditions. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

[error in script]

IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Agarwal, Anil	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3902-4304

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

The work presented in this paper was conducted at Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India and was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Earthquake damage; Multi hazard; Post-earthquake fire; RC columns; Structural fire

Subjects:

Civil Engineering > Construction & Building Technology
Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering > Earthquake Engineering

Divisions:

Department of Civil Engineering

Depositing User:

. LibTrainee 2021

Date Deposited:

18 Jul 2022 11:11

Last Modified:

18 Jul 2022 11:11