Influence of web stiffeners on cold-formed steel beams subjected to fire
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the results of a study on the behaviour of cold-formed galvanized steel beams subjected to fire, using the results of a large programme of experimental tests.
Design/methodology/approach
The research investigated the influence of web stiffeners in the sections and the stiffness of the surrounding structure, including the axial and rotational restraining to the thermal elongation, on the flexural behaviour of the beams in case of fire. In other words, the structural response of different open cold-formed steel beams, with and without web stiffeners, was compared in case of fire.
Findings
The results showed that a good choice between using cold-formed steel beams, with and without web stiffeners, may depend on the section shape and the internal forces generated in these members during a fire.
Originality/value
Temperatures in the furnace and at several points of the beams, as well as deformations and restraining forces and moments, were measured to achieve those goals and consequently to assess the critical time and temperature of these beams.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology – FCT (www.fct.mctes.pt) for its support under the framework of research project PTDC/ECM/116859/2010 and for the Postdoctoral scholarship SFRH/BPD/94037/2013 given to the second author, as well as to the Human Potential Operational Programme (POPH), the European Social Fund and National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN). The authors would also like to especially thank the Portuguese cold-formed steel profile maker PERFISA S.A. (www.perfisa.net) for their support.
Citation
Rodrigues, J.P.C., Laim, L. and Craveiro, H.D. (2016), "Influence of web stiffeners on cold-formed steel beams subjected to fire", Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 249-261. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSFE-09-2016-018
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited