Fire Performance of HSS Steel Connections

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Background: Fires can cause elevated temperature that can have adverse impact on the building elements and systems. Steel connections are vital and essential components of any steel structure. Observations from fires confirm that connections have considerable effect on the survival time of structural members due to their role in distributing forces. Hollow Steel Sections HSS are known to absorb heat energy at higher rates than thick steel sections, causing earlier yielding to occur. In a fire event, restrained steel beams can heat up quickly and cause lateral thrust on supporting columns. It is likely that columns fail because of this thrust, and not necessarily because of the elevated temperatures. Objectives: The proposed research aims to examine and evaluate, under fire conditions, the performance of existing HSS-to-HSS extended end-plate moment connections and work towards introducing a new connection capable of absorbing or redirecting the lateral thrust. Scientific approach: Using medium- and full-scale experiments, the performance of current and proposed HSS-to-HSS extended end-plate moment connections in fire conditions will be assessed. The proposed research focuses on how to utilize the catenary action in fire in order to improve the fire performance of restrained steel beams. ABAQUS finite element model will be used to analyze the couple effect of thermal and structural performance. Both design fires (for commercial and industrial type occupancies) as well as standard time-temperature profiles will be applied to the connections using a newly constructed fire facility at Carleton University's. The research is expected to advance the understanding of fire behaviour of the commonly used steel connections (not isolated connections), and propose an advanced connection that can enhance the stability in the event of fire. The results will be used to produce a fire resistance design method of beam-to-column connections.