ABSTRACT
E. RICHTER and K. PALIGA Institute for Building Materials, Concrete Structures and Fire Protection (iBMB) of the Technical University of Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Abstract The present paper reports on experiments and calculations made with the ami of optimising the fire-engineered design of single-shell tunnel lining systems. Preliminary tests performed in this connection on small-scale specimen were aimed to show the effect polypropylene-fibre inclusion has on the mechanical high-temperature properties of normal weight concrete. These tests supplied data on the composition of reinforcedconcrete tubbings that were to be subjected to full-scale tests in order to study their structural response and deformation behaviour in a typical tunnel fire. It was demonstrated that, a certain installation input provided, it is possible to realistically portray the conditions in a tunnel and to predict these conditions with satisfactory precision by means of FE calculations. This is true both for the service and the fire loads encountered in a tunnel. Plastic fibres embedded hi the concrete allow destructive spalling to be reduced substantially. Keywords: FE analyses, fire, fire protection, full scale test, material behaviour, polypropylene-fibre, tunnel shells.
