Flexural buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns

In order to study buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns, a finite element model is developed. The results of this model are verified with experiments. Based on a parametric study with the finite element model, it is concluded that the simple calculation model for flexural buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns in EN 1999-1-2 does not give an accurate prediction of the buckling resistance in fire. This paper proposes an alternative design model, which takes into account the shape of the stress–strain relationships of aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures. Predictions of this model agree well with that of the finite element model.