Evaluation of Fire Resistance for H-Section Columns Made of Rolled Steels for General Structures and for Welded Structures by Analytic Method

Fire resistance is an important factor in sustaining the structural stability of steel framed buildings on fire. However, evaluation of the fire resistance of steel columns has been conducted using rolled steels for general structures, SS 400. Recently, rolled steels for welded structures, such as SM 400 and SM 490, have been used frequently because they have better performance of welding than the SS 400. However, there has been doubt about how much fire resistance SM 400 and SM 490 have. To evaluate by calculation the fire resistance of an H-section column made of SS 400 its mechanical and thermal properties were derived and suggested respectively in the form of regressive equations and the analysis was done based on heat transfer and thermal stress analysis. In this study, the results of the evaluation of H-section columns made of SS 400 with loaded fire tests turned out to be conservative. As a result, a new guideline is required to get the exact fire resistance of another structural steel.