Structural fire performance of steel portal frame buildings
This paper describes a study into the fire behaviour of steel portal frame buildings at elevated temperatures using the finite element programme SAFIR. The finite element analysis carried out in this report was three dimensional and covered different support conditions at the column bases, the presence of axial restraints provided by the end walls, several different locations and severities of fires within the building, different levels of out-of-plane restraint to the columns and the effect of concrete encasement to the columns. From a large number of analyses, it has been shown that the bases of the steel portal frames at the foundations must be designed and constructed with some level of base fixity to ensure that the structure will deform in an acceptable way during fire, with no outwards collapse of the walls. The analyses also showed that it is not necessary for steel portal frame columns to be fire-protected unless the designer wishes to ensure that the columns and the wall panels remain standing, during and after the fire.
