IJIRST International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology| Volume 3 | Issue 04 | September 2016

ISSN (online): 2349-6010

Effect of Fire on RC Slab

Poorna S Reshma Prasad
M. Tech. Student Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
FISAT, Kerala, India-683577 FISAT, Kerala, India-683577

Abstract
Concrete is a construction material used for buildings, bridge decks and also used for other special purposes. Concrete has now
become a very common construction material. The main advantage of this building material is that it can be designed as per the
requirements. In the modern industry, grade of concrete used varies from M20 to M70. Even higher grades are designed if
needed. When the concrete is used in special purposes the chance of fire exposure also increases. In case of unexpected fire, the
properties of concrete changes and hence it is important to know the deflection rate of the concrete structures and the various
effects of fire on concrete. Numerous studies were conducted on concrete both experimental and analytically to understand its
behaviour under fire. In this study the thermal behavior of reinforced concrete slab exposed to fire is studied and presented. The
paper mainly focuses on the percentage deflection of RC slab when exposed to elevated temperature. The RCC slabs were
modeled using ANSYS14.5, to show the behavior of slab at elevated temperature with M25, M70 and M100 grade of concrete
and with cover of 30mm,40mm and 50mm. Analysis was also carried out to study the load-deflection pattern and percentage of
deflection with and without heat with a pressure of 0.1N/mm2. In stage one, 9 specimens were modeled to show the effect of
different grade of concrete with different cover. The heat is applied on the basis of ISO 834 curve. The result showed that the
deflection of a slab decreases as the cover provided increases. It was also found that the deflection of the slab decreases as the
grade of concrete increases. From the result incurred it is seen that the analysis showed minimum deflection for M100 with cover
50mm. Hence it can be observed that, it is very essential to consider the effect of fire while designing special structures such as
blast furnaces etc.
Keywords: Fire on RC Slab, Modal Analysis, ISO 834 Curve, Thermal Behaviour
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION

Reinforced Concrete (RC) has been the most popular construction material used worldwide in the past century. It has proven to
be a wonderful construction material that possesses almost all of the desirable properties such as excellent insulation from
environment, durability, low cost, ease of construction, ability to mould in any given shape to name a few. Even from structural
aspects, reinforced concrete construction serves its intended purpose extremely well, if properly designed and constructed. The
most substantial consequence of fire on a concrete slab is the stiffness and strength degradation which may lead to collapse. It is
important to study how the concrete property changes according to temperature. The compressive strength of the concrete
decreases when temperature increases but the ultimate strain of the concrete increases with temperature. The tensile strength of
the concrete also decreases with an increase in temperature. A tensile stress can also be obtained up to a temperature of
5000C.The modulus of elasticity of the concrete decreases with an increase in temperature. The reduction of the modulus of
elasticity is due to the weak bonds formed in the microstructure of the cement paste when the temperature increases and is the
result of the onset of rapid short-term creep.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

Significant researches was carried out on effect of fire on RC slab Faris ali et al (2008) performed an experimental investigation
on explosive spalling and deformation of 6 full-scale simply supported reinforced concrete slabs subjected to conventional fire
curve (BS476) and severe hydrocarbon fire curve. Each slab was loaded with 65% of its BS8110 design load and was heated
from the bottom side only. Temperature profile was recorded at 3 depths within the slabs and the moisture content was also
measured before and after the tests. The deflection of the slabs was recorded at the middle of the 3 meters span. The second part
he represents a Finite Element Modeling of the slabs using DIANA software. The concrete slabs were modeled including the
embedded reinforcement to conduct a non-linear transient structural analysis taking into account cracks appearance and creep. A
comparison between the experimental and the FEM was analyzed. A discussion of the current state of our ability to predict the
effects of fire on building structures has been presented. The emphasis has been on the degree to which fire dynamics, heat
transfer, and structural analysis can be coupled.

All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 179

 Effect of Fire on RC Slab
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 032)

III. FINITE ELEMENT MODELING RC SLAB

Modeling and analysis of RC slab is performed in ANSYS 14.5. The analysis process consists of loading the control specimen
with elevated temperature (as per ISO curve 843) and with a pressure of 0.1N/mm 2 load and to study the deflection. Different test
specimens were studied with different grade of concrete and with different cover.
The two convergence criteria used for the analysis are force and displacement. The displacement converges, but the force does
not converges. Therefore, the convergence criterion for force is dropped and the tolerance value for displacement criteria is
changed to 0.05. A small criterion must be used to capture correct response. This criterion is used for the remainder of the
analysis. The program then gives a message specifying that the model has a significantly large deflection, exceeding the
displacement limitation of the ANSYS program.
Table- 1
Material Properties (ANSYS Input)
Material Properties
Density 2400 kg/m3
Concrete Youngs Modulus 26.44GPa
Poissons ratio 0.2

Fig. 1: The finite element (FE) model of the RC slab

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A slab size of 3300mmx1200mmx200mm with a cover of 30mm, 40mm and 50mm and with a grade of M25, M70 and M100
were modeled. The reinforcement provided in the slab was of 12mm and 10mm a pressure of .1N/mm2 was applied to the slab.
Heat was applied to the slab. The temperature applied is based on ISO 834 fire curve.
The analysis comprises of a total of 3 sets of models. The first set comprises of slab with M25 concrete and a varying cover of
30mm, 40mm and 50mm cover forms the first set. The second set have M70 with 30mm, 40mm and 50mm cover, and the final
set consists of M100 with 30mm, 40mm and 50mm cover.

Fig. 2: M25 cover 30mm Fig. 3: M25 cover 40mm

All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 180

 Effect of Fire on RC Slab
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 032)

Fig. 4: M25 cover 50mm Fig. 5: M70 cover 30mm

Fig. 6: M70 cover 40mm Fig. 7: M70 cover 50mm

Fig. 8: M100 cover 30mm Fig. 9: M100 cover 40 mm

Fig. 11: M100 cover 50mm

All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 181

 Effect of Fire on RC Slab
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 032)

Interpretation of Results based on Grade

Table 2
Interpretation of Results based on Grade

Interpretation of results based on the total variation of deflection with respect to same grade of concrete but with different cover.
The total variation of deflection was expressed in terms of percentage. The first set shows M25 grade with different cover. Cover
30mm shows a deflection variation of 9.56 % when compared 40mm cover whereas cover 40mm shows a deflection of 8.23%
when compared to cover 50mm. A total deflection of 17.08% decrease was experienced as we increase the cover. In the second
set M70 with different cover was tabulated. At 30mm cover it was seen that the deflection was decreased by 12.49% when
compared to 40mm cover, whereas the deflection changes to 12.75% when the cover was changed from 40mm to 50mm. And an
overall variation of 23.66% decrease was experienced. In the third set M100 was tabulated against different cover. It was seen
that a 14.4% decrease is experienced when the cover was changed from 30mm to 40mm, whereas a 15.11% variation is
experienced with change in cover from 40mm to 50mm. An overall of 27.34% of variation decrease was experienced. It is seen
that for a grade of concrete the maximum deflection is experienced for minimum cover. As we increase the grade of concrete the
deflection is minimum.
Interpretation of Results based on Cover
Interpretation of results based on the total variation of deflection with respect to same cover with different grade of concrete. The
total variation of deflection was expressed in terms of percentage. The first set shows 30mm cover with different grade of
concrete. M25 shows a deflection variation of 21.84% when compared M70 whereas M70 shows a deflection of 17.80% when
compared to M100. A total deflection of 35.76% decrease was experienced as we increase the grade of concrete. In the second
set 40mm cover with different grade of concrete was tabulated. At M25 it was seen that the deflection was decreased by 24.38%
when compared to M70, whereas the deflection changes to 19.595% when the grade of concrete was changed from M70 to
M100. And an overall variation of 39.198% decrease was experienced. In the third set 50mm cover was tabulated against
different grade of concrete. It was seen that 28.03% decrease was experienced when the grade was changed from M25 to M70,
whereas a 21.76% variation was experienced with change in grade from M70 to M100. An overall of 43.7% of variation
decrease was experienced. The result shows that as we increase the grade of concrete with constant cover the slab with minimum
cover experience more deflection. The deflection is minimum for maximum cover with higher grade of concrete.
Table 3
Interpretation of Results based on Cover

V. CONCLUSIONS

The behavior of one-way reinforced concrete slabs exposed to fire was investigated using ANSYS14.5. 11 simply supported one-
way reinforced concrete slab models were considered with three different parameters namely: M25, M70 and M100 grade of
concrete, different covers of 30mm, 40mm and 50mm with grade of steel 415N/mm2. The size of the slab
3300mmx1200mmx200mm.The temperature applied on the slab was based on the ISO834 fire curve. A pressure of 0.1 N/mm2

All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 182

 Effect of Fire on RC Slab
(IJIRST/ Volume 3 / Issue 04/ 032)

was applied on the slab. The deflection were noted and studied. A slab M45 grade of concrete was also analyzed with and
without heat. From the current study, the following conclusions could be drawn:
The normal strength concrete M25 and high strength concrete M70 and M100 exhibits a linear response.
The deflection of a slab decreases as we increase the cover. This is because concrete has the capacity to resist fire.
The deflection of the slab decreases as we increase grade of concrete. This is because the concrete becomes less permeable
as we increase the grade of concrete.
From the above analysis it is concluded that M100 with a cover of 50mm shows a minimum deflection when exposed to
high temperature and pressure.
Maximum deflection is shown by M25 grade with 30mm cover when it is exposed to high temperature and pressure.
As the deflection increases it affects the strength of the slab decreases.

REFERENCES
[1] H. G. Mundle Variation in strength of concrete subjected to high temperature, International Journal of Research in Engineering & Technology, Vol. 2,
Issue 2, 149- 154,2010
[2] David Lange, Johan Sjstrm, Robert Jansson, Lars Bostrm Deflection of concrete floor slab during a fire test: tests and modelling, 15th International
Conference on Experimental Mechanics, paper ref: 2830, 2012
[3] Belkacem Toumi and Musa Resheidat Influence of High Temperatures on Surface Cracking of Concrete Studied byImage Scanning Technique , Jordan
Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 4, No. 2,2010
[4] Anand.N, Prince Arulraj.G The effect of elevated temperature on concrete materials, International journal of civil and structural engineering Volume 1,
No 4.
[5] Christopher D. Eamon and Elin Jensen (2013) Reliability Analysis of RC Beams Exposed to Fire Journal of structural engineering asce, 2011.
[6] Chul-hun chung, Cho rong im, and Jaegyun park Structural test and analysis of rc slab after fire loading, nuclear engineering and technology, vol.45 no.2,
2013
[7] Mr. C Sangluaia, Mr. M K Haridharan, Dr. C Natarajan, Dr. A. Rajaraman Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Slab Subjected To Fire, International
Journal Of Computational Engineering Research ,Vol. 3 Issue. 1,196-206, 2013.
[8] Said M. Allam *, Hazem M.F. Elbakry, Alaa G. Rabeai Behavior of one-way reinforced concrete slabs subjected to fire Alexandria Engineering Journal
52, 749761 52
[9] YoungJin Kwona,*, DongJun Kima, SeungGoo Kanga, BongChan Kima, ByungChan Hanb, JeaYoung Leec, Harada Kazunori Fire resistance
performance analysis of reinforced concrete members using Galerkin finite element method The 9th AsiaOceania Symposium on Fire Science and
Technology, 62 725 735,2013.
[10] Faris ali, Ali nadjai, and Abid abu-tair Experimental and Numerical Study on Performance of Concrete Slabs Subjected to Severe Fire fire safety science
proceedings of the ninth international symposium, pp. 1255-1266, 2008.
[11] YoungJin Kwona,*, DongJun Kima, SeungGoo Kanga, BongChan Kima, ByungChan Hanb, JeaYoung Leec, Harada Kazunori Fire resistance
performance analysis of reinforced concrete members using Galerkin finite element method The 9th Asia-Oceania Symposium on Fire Science and
Technology, 62 725 735,2013.
[12] Ayad A. Abdul-Razzak, Ahmed Hadee Said Nonlinear Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Slabs at Elevated Temperature, Iraqi Journal of Civil
Engineering Vol. 9, pp. 42-51, 2010.
[13] V. K. R. Kodur, M.ASCE, and L. A. Bisby Evaluation of Fire Endurance of Concrete Slabs Reinforced with Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bars, journal of
structural engineering ASCE, 2005.
[14] Mohammed Mansour Kadhum, Nada Mahdi Fawzi, Khalid Safa'a Hashim Fire Flame Exposure Effect on Some Mechanical Properties of Concrete", MSc.
Thesis, college of Engineering, Babylon University, October, 2008, PP 103,2008.
[15] Rahul P. Chadha, A R Mundhada Effect of fire on flexural strength of reinforced concrete beam, International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology, Vol. 1 Issue 3, 2012.

All rights reserved by www.ijirst.org 183