Explosion and Fire Analysis of Steel Frames Using Mixed Element Approach
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 131, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper presents a mixed element approach for analyzing steel frame structures subjected to a localized explosion and followed by fire. Critical members that are subjected to direct action of explosion and fire are modeled using shell elements. Noncritical members that are away from the affected area are modeled using beam elements. The proposed approach is computationally efficient for modeling large-scale structures and accurate enough to capture detailed behavior of member inelasticity and instability associated with the effects of blast and fires. Section classification may change from static load to blast load because of the enhanced yield strength due to high strain rate. The beam element approach is found to overpredict the overall resistance of steel frame structures if local deformation of cross section occurred after the blast loads. Detailed finite element modeling of critical frame members is necessary to improve the accuracy of predicting the ultimate resistance of structures. The proposed approach is applied to study the ultimate behaviors of a steel column and a three-story steel frame under explosion and fire.
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Acknowledgments
The investigation presented in this paper is part of the research program on “Survivability of Infrastructures Subject to Explosion and Fire” being carried out in the Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore. The work is funded by a research grant (No. UNSPECIFIEDRP264-000-156-112) made available by the National University of Singapore.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 131 • Issue 6 • June 2005
Pages: 606 - 616
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 28, 2003
Accepted: Jun 7, 2004
Published online: Jun 1, 2005
Published in print: Jun 2005
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