Horizontal forces in steel structures tested in fire

Fire tests carried out on the eight-storey steel framed building at the Building Research Establishment’s Cardington laboratory have shown that the connections are subject to large axial force. These forces are the result of thermal movements of the structure during heating and cooling and in some cases can result in failure of the structure. This paper describes a fire test carried out on the steel frame at Cardington on 16th January 2003 and a fire test carried out on a structure in Ostrava on 16th June 2006. In both cases the tests were designed to measure the forces generated in the connections.