Experimental study and calculation of fire resistance of concrete-filled hollow steel columns

Hollow structural steel (HSS) columns filled with concrete offer a number of benefits and are often used in tall buildings and other industrial structures. A mathematical model was developed and used to investigate the influence of important parameters that determine the fire resistance of concrete-filled hollow steel columns. The behavior of concrete-filled HSS columns with or without fire protection subjected to axial or eccentric loads was experimentally investigated and the results presented in this paper. The parametric and experimental studies provide information for the development of formulas for the calculation of the fire resistance and fire protection thickness of the composite columns. The main objectives of this work were threefold: First, to report a series of fire tests on composite columns; second, to analyze the influence of several parameters, such as the sectional dimension, load eccentricity ratio, and fire protection thickness on the fire resistance of the composite columns. It was found, in general, that the sectional dimension and the fire protection thickness have significant influence on the fire resistance of concrete-filled HSS columns; however, the load eccentricity ratio has moderate influence on the fire resistance. The final objective was to develop formulas for the calculation of the fire resistance and the fire protection thickness of the concrete-filled HSS columns.