Behavior of steel columns in a fire with partial damage to fire protection

An experimental study is performed on two specimens in a furnace to investigate the fire behaviour of steel columns with partial loss of fire protection. The steel columns are connected by flush end-plates at two ends and the axial load is kept constant with a load ratio of 0.55 subjected to an elevation of temperature. The specimens are protected with 20 mm thickness of fire protection. The damaged length of fire protection is 7% of the complete length of the column for specimen S-1 and 14% for S-2 at the two ends of the steel columns. The temperature of atmosphere around the specimens in the furnace is assumed to follow the ISO834 standard temperature and the temperatures and displacements are measured in the experiment. The temperature distribution along the steel column is modelled by finite element analysis and compared with the measured results. A continuum model is presented to predict the ultimate load capacity or critical temperature of the columns with fire protection damage. Analyses are carried out on the specimens and compared with the experiment. Experimental and analytical results showed that the fire resistance of steel columns with partial damage to the fire protection is reduced. The damage length of the fire protection has a great effect on the fire resistance of steel columns. The failure of the specimens mainly resulted from the buckling or yielding at the portion where the fire protection is damaged.