ABSTRACT

This paper presents a near full-scale experimental investigation into structural fire behavior of steel-concrete composite cellular beams having a trapezoidal steel deck at elevated temperatures. Both unprotected and protected beams are considered. To compare behavioral values and possible improvement after the application of insulation, 2 cellular beams (without insulation and insulated with 60 min. solvent based thin film intumescent coatings) were designed and tested under the ISO 834 standard fire curve. The beams are subjected to uniformly distributed gravity plus live loading representing a floor beam of a library building. These tests revealed that unprotected cellular beam had higher recorded temperatures, larger deflections and a more significant/severe failure mechanism compared with the protected beam under the same furnace condition.