Experimental Study on the Fire-Induced Collapse of Single-Layer Aluminum Alloy Reticulated Shells with Gusset Joints
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper aims at investigating the fire-induced collapse behavior of aluminum alloy shells with gusset joints through an experimental analysis. The scale test model (geometric scaling ) was composed of a K6 aluminum alloy spherical shell with a diameter of and a support structure with a height of . Diesel oil was used as the fuel, and the design power of the fire was (corresponding to of the prototype, calculated by the fire-power scaling law). Test results, including the test phenomenon, the failure mode, the thermal and structural response, and the deformation process, are presented and discussed. In the first fire test, the specimen did not collapse, and no permanent deformation, which would influence the mechanical behavior of the specimen, was observed. In the second fire test, the specimen began to collapse at , and the structural components failed by melting, rupture, and flexural-torsional buckling. While the members at the outside rings presented buckling, it is suggested that the thermal expansion be considered to prevent the buckling of the member in the structural fire design. Besides, the nonuniform temperature distribution was observed throughout the two structural fire tests, which confirmed that the homogeneous temperature assumption is not appropriate in analyzing large-space fires. Finally, the field simulation method to simulate the air temperature field of the tests is presented and verified, and the internal forces of members under nonuniform and uniform temperature distributions are compared. It is found that the field simulation can accurately evaluate the nonuniform air temperature distribution, and the nonuniform structural temperature distribution will significantly influence the internal forces of spherical shells. The experimental data and findings of this paper will be used for a further analysis of the structural fire behavior of aluminum alloy spatial structures.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 51478335. The authors would also like to present their gratitude to Thunderhead Engineering for granting academic Pyrosim software for our work.
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Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 12 • December 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 22, 2020
Accepted: Jun 9, 2020
Published online: Sep 21, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 21, 2021
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