Fire Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Filled Square Steel Tube Columns Under Constant Axial Loads

Abstract

A composite member made of concrete-filled steel tubes (CFT columns) has been recognized for its fire resistance due to the thermal mass effect of concrete inside the steel tube, as shown in various studies. In this study, the fire resistance performance of reinforced CFT columns under constant axial load was evaluated using finite element analysis with ABAQUS. For this purpose, the variables including cross-section size, steel tube thickness, and concrete cover thickness were set, and the temperature distribution in the column cross-section exposed to a standard fire was investigated using heat transfer analysis. Ultimately, a P-M interaction curve was obtained by evaluating the overall residual strength of columns, and the fire resistance time was determined by evaluating axial displacement-time responses due to the reduction in load capacity during fire through stress analysis.