Various Factors Influencing on Thermal Behaviors of High Strength Concrete (HSC) Columns under Fire

The objective of this study is to investigate behaviors of high strength concrete (HSC) columns at elevated temperatures including temperature distributions and spalling. Toward this goal, seven short HSC columns having different design parameters are fabricated and placed in a heating chamber for fire tests. The design parameters are cross sectional areas, cover thicknesses, and arrangements of reinforced bars. The columns are heated using temperature control system following ISO 834 time-temperature curve. Temperature distributions are obtained from temperature gauges located inside the columns during the fire tests, and the spalling depths of the columns are measured after the fire tests in order to examine loss of cross sectional area due to spalling. Experimental results show that the design parameters, such as cross sectional areas, cover thicknesses, and reinforcement arrangements, affect on the temperature distributions and spalling of HSC columns, and are important factors of fire safety design.