Decays in strength, ductility, stiffness, and toughness of RC corbels due to fire exposure

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study to explain the effect of high fire flame temperatures on the behavior of reinforced concrete corbels. Five reinforced concrete corbels were made using the same concrete grade. All specimens were comparable in geometry and reinforcement details. The key parameter of this study was the temperature of the fire. Therefore, four corbels were exposed to 300, 500,700, and 900 ° C fire flame, respectively, while the fifth was the reference sample kept without burning. All specimens were posteriorly tested by applying gradual three-point loading till collapse. The results revealed that the exposure to fire flame resulted in a significant deterioration in the strength, ductility, stiffness, and toughness of burned corbels touched 17.7%-47.3%, 39.25%-47.08%, 5.62%-22.5%, and 20.19%-70.8%, respectively.