Mohammed Ali Morovat

Elevated Temperature Properties of ASTM A992 Steel

There is an increasing interest in the US in developing engineered approaches to structural fire safety as an alternative to conventional code-based prescriptive approaches. With an engineered approach, the response of a structure to fire is computed and appropriate design measures are taken to assure acceptable response. In the case of steel buildings, one of the key elements of an engineered approach to structural fire safety is the ability to predict the elevated temperature properties of structural steel. The properties of steel at high temperatures can be drastically different from those at room temperature, and accurate knowledge of these properties is a critical factor in predicting response of steel structures to fire. Although several past studies have examined elevated temperature properties of structural steel, there are some important gaps in the experimental database. Specifically, little data is available on ASTM A992 steel, the most common grade of structural steel currently used for wide flange shapes in the US. Furthermore, past studies have not adequately examined the important role of strain rate in tension testing at elevated temperatures. This paper will present preliminary results of a series of tension tests on A992 steel conducted at temperatures up to 900°C.

High-Temperature Creep Buckling Phenomenon of Steel Columns Subjected to Fire

This paper presents highlights of on-going research, which aims at developing analytical, computational and experimental predictions of the phenomenon of creep buckling in steel columns subjected to fire. Analytical solutions using the concept of time-dependent tangent modulus are developed to model time-dependent buckling behavior of steel columns at elevated temperatures. Results from computational creep buckling studies using Abaqus are also presented, and compared with analytical predictions. Material creep data on ASTM A992M steel is also presented and compared to existing creep models for structural steel. Both analytical and computational methods utilize material creep models for structural steel developed by Harmathy, by Fields and Fields, and by the authors. Predictions from this study are also compared against those from Eurocode 3 and the AISC Specification. Results of this work show that neglecting creep effects can lead to erroneous and potentially unsafe predictions of the strength of steel columns subjected to fire.

Creep Properties of ASTM A992 Steel at Elevated Temperatures

In moving towards an engineered performance-based approach to structural fire safety, a sound knowledge of the elevated-temperature properties of structural steel is crucial. Of all mechanical properties of structural steel at elevated temperatures, material creep is particularly important. Under fire conditions, behavior of steel members and structures can be highly time-dependent. As a result, understanding the time-dependent mechanical properties of structural steel at high temperatures becomes essential. This paper presents preliminary results of a comprehensive on-going research project aimed at characterizing the material creep behavior of ASTM A992 steel at elevated temperatures. Such creep properties are presented in the form of strain-time curves for materials from the web and the flanges of a W4×13 wide flange section and from the web of a W30×99 section. The test results are then compared against material creep models for structural steel developed by Harmathy, and by Fields and Fields to evaluate the predictions of these models. The preliminary results clearly indicate that material creep is significant within the time, temperature, and stress regimes expected in a builing fire. The results also demonstrate the need for a more reliable creep model for steel for strcutural-fire engineering analysis.

Importance of Time-Dependent Material Behavior in Predicting Strength of Steel Columns Exposed to Fire

One of the critical factors affecting the strength of steel columns at elevated temperatures is the influence of material creep. Under fire conditions, steel columns can exhibit creep buckling, a phenomenon in which the critical buckling load for a column depends not only on slenderness and temperature, but also on the duration of the applied load. This paper will propose a preliminary methodology to study the phenomenon of creep buckling in steel columns subjected to fire. Analytical solutions using the concept of time-dependent tangent modulus are developed to model time-dependent buckling behavior of steel columns at elevated temperatures. Results from computational creep buckling studies using ABAQUS® are also presented, and compared with analytical predictions. Both analytical and computational methods utilize material creep models for structural steel developed by Harmathy, and by Fields and Fields. The analytical and computational results clearly indicate that accurate knowledge of material creep is essential in studying creep buckling phenomenon at elevated temperatures, and that neglecting creep effects can lead to potentially unsafe predictions of the strength of steel columns subjected to fire.

Analysis of Creep Buckling of Steel Columns Subjected to Fire

One of the critical factors affecting the strength of steel columns at elevated temperatures is the influence of material creep. Under fire conditions, steel columns can exhibit creep buckling, a phenomenon in which the critical buckling load for a column depends not only on slenderness and temperature, but also on the duration of applied load. Although material creep and consequently the phenomenon of creep buckling can significantly impact the safety of steel columns subjected to fire, they have received relatively little research attention, and are not currently explicitly considered in code-based design formula for columns at elevated temperatures, such as those in the Eurocode 3 or in the AISC Specification. This paper will propose a preliminary methodology to study the phenomenon of creep buckling in steel columns subjected to fire. Preliminary analytical solutions are presented, and compared with computational predictions for creep buckling. The analytical and computational results clearly indicate that accurate knowledge of material creep is essential in studying creep buckling phenomenon at elevated temperatures. In addition, the results show that neglecting creep effects can lead to erroneous and potentially unsafe predictions of the strength of steel columns subjected to fire.

Investigation of time-dependent buckling of steel columns exposed to fire temperatures

One of the critical factors affecting the strength of steel columns at elevated temperatures is the influence of material creep. Under fire conditions, steel columns can exhibit creep buckling, a phenomenon in which the critical buckling load for a column depends not only on slenderness and temperature, but also on the duration of applied load. The phenomenon of time-dependent buckling can have a significant impact on the safety of steel columns subjected to fire. This phenomenon has received relatively little research attention, and is not currently explicitly considered in code-based design formulas for columns at elevated temperatures, such as those in the Eurocode 3 or those in the AISC Specification. This paper presents some results of on-going research, which aims at developing analytical, computational and experimental predictions of the phenomenon of creep buckling in steel columns subjected to fire. Analytical solutions using the concept of time-dependent tangent modulus are developed to model time-dependent buckling behavior of steel columns at elevated temperatures. Results from computational creep buckling studies using Abaqus are also presented, and compared with analytical predictions. Material creep data on ASTM A992 steel is also presented in the paper and compared to existing creep models for structural steel at high temperatures. Both analytical and computational methods utilize material creep models for structural steel developed by Harmathy, by Fields and Fields, and by the authors. Predictions from this study are also compared against those from Eurocode 3 and the AISC Specification. Results of this work show that neglecting creep effects can lead to erroneous and potentially unsafe predictions of the strength of steel columns subjected to fire.