Numerical analysis of stainless steel beam-columns in case of fire

摘要

This paper presents an evaluation of the accuracy and safety of the design rules from Eurocode 3, for the fire resistance of stainless steel beam-columns, with and without lateral-torsional buckling. These evaluations are carried out performing an extensive numerical parametric study on beam-columns with equivalent welded H-cross-sections. In this study the influences of the residual stresses, the cross-sectional slendemess, the shape of the bending moment diagrams and the stainless steel grade are considered. New proposals for the design equations of stainless steel beam-columns in case of fire are presented. These proposals revealed to be safer than the design equations of Eurocode 3 when compared with numerical results. Additionally, the lateral-torsional buckling of stainless steel beams subjected to combined end moments and transverse loads in case of fire is also studied.