Finite Element Analysis on the Fire Resistance of Space Frames with Steel Columns and Composite Floor Systems

Wenjun Wang; Faxing Ding; Binhui Jiang; Zhiwu Yu; Jing Liu

doi:10.13206/j.gjgS25103001

Volume 41 Issue 5

May 2026

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Wenjun Wang, Faxing Ding, Binhui Jiang, Zhiwu Yu, Jing Liu. Finite Element Analysis on the Fire Resistance of Space Frames with Steel Columns and Composite Floor Systems[J]. STEEL CONSTRUCTION(Chinese & English), 2026, 41(5): 35-46. doi: 10.13206/j.gjgS25103001

Citation:

Wenjun Wang, Faxing Ding, Binhui Jiang, Zhiwu Yu, Jing Liu. Finite Element Analysis on the Fire Resistance of Space Frames with Steel Columns and Composite Floor Systems[J]. STEEL CONSTRUCTION(Chinese & English), 2026, 41(5): 35-46. doi: 10.13206/j.gjgS25103001

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Finite Element Analysis on the Fire Resistance of Space Frames with Steel Columns and Composite Floor Systems

doi: 10.13206/j.gjgS25103001

1. Hunan Engineering Research Center of Development and Application of Ceramsite Concrete Technology, Hunan City University, Yiyang 413000, China;
2. School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China

Received Date: 2025-10-30

Abstract

Abstract

In existing fire tests on space frames， significant deformations were observed in the components， yet the overall structure did not collapse. Therefore， studying the fire resistance of space frames while taking into account the overall performance of the structure is of paramount importance for ensuring the safety of the entire structure and reducing building fire protection costs. In existing finite element （FE） studies on space frames， beam elements were typically used to model steel columns and beams， which made it difficult to simulate the local buckling behavior of constrained beams and columns. For concrete slabs， shell elements were adopted， but they struggled to capture the expansive deformation induced by the non-uniform temperature field along the thickness direction. In contrast， the aforementioned issues were effectively addressed by employing shell elements for steel beams and solid elements for concrete slabs. Furthermore， in existing FE studies on individual components， when the thermal-mechanical-time constitutive relation was applied to concrete and the thermal-mechanical constitutive relation was used for steel， the FE calculation results for deformation and failure modes agreed more closely with the test results. Therefore， this study adopted an FE model combining shell-solid elements， along with the thermal-mechanical-time constitutive relation for concrete and the thermal-mechanical constitutive relation for steel， to simulate the fire test of the space frame with steel columns and composite floor systems. The FE calculation results for the temperature and deformation of beams， slabs， and columns were in good agreement with the test results. Moreover， the stress contour plot of the concrete slab accurately reflected the test phenomenon where the top surface of the reinforced concrete slab cracked while the bottom remained relatively intact when the slab underwent large deformation under fire. The well-established FE model can provide a solid foundation for subsequent fire resistance analysis of composite space frames and the development of fire resistance design methods.
- space frame with steel columns and composite floor systems,
- finite element analysis,
- element type,
- material constitutive relation,
- fire resistance

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References(40)

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