A practical approach for fire resistance design of extended end-plate joints

Although beam-to-column joints are known to have a very significant effect on the behaviour of steel frames in the event of fire, no specific approach for evaluating the behaviour of extended end-plate joints in fire has been proposed. In this paper, on the basis of the current Chinese Code for Design of Steel Structures [Chinese code for design of steel structures. 2002] and Technical Code on Fire Safety of Steel Building Structures [Chinese Technical code on fire safety of steel building structure. CECS, 2006], analysis is presented on the load-bearing capacity of extended end-plate joints in fire, by taking the mechanical properties of steel at elevated temperature into account. A practical approach for fire-resistance calculation and assessment of the joints is proposed, based on the load-bearing capacity of the components of joints at elevated temperatures including the bolt, extended end-plate, column flange and panel zone. Employing the practical approach, the critical temperatures of two extended end-plate joints are predicted. By comparison with the results measured from the tests, the effectiveness of this practical approach is verified.