Modelling the influence of steel structure compartment geometry on travelling fires
The response of structures exposed to fire depends greatly on the type of fire that breaks out, and the type of fire that occurs is highly dependent on the compartment geometry. A European research project was conducted with the use of computational fluid dynamics simulations to analyse the influence of compartment geometry and the interaction with representative fuel loads in order to examine the circumstances that contribute to the formation of a travelling fire.
This research paper, written in collaboration with ArcelorMittal Steligence® and ArcelorMittal Global R&D, emphasises how building design specifications affect temperature development and the mechanical behaviour of a steel structure when the nature of a travelling fire is fully taken into account.
Contents
This 2021 paper is comprised of the following sections:
1. Introduction
2. The set-up of CFD simulations and its corresponding assumptions
2.1 Computational domain
2.2 Fire load
2.3 Fire spread and heat release rate
2.4 Boundary conditions
2.5 Radiation
3. Model of different configurations of large compartments: results and influences
3.1 Deep rectangular compartment – one-dimensional spread
3.2 Square compartment – two-dimensional (2D) spread
4. Linking CFD and finite-element method (FEM): response of a steel structure to the travelling fire characteristics
4.1 Modelling strategy
4.2 Example
4.2.1 Configuration of the compartment
4.2.2 Steel structure
4.2.3 Results
5. Discussion and further improvements
6. Conclusions
Solutions by
PerformanceResearch paper:
© Charlier M, Gamba A, Dai X et al. (2021). Modelling the influence of steel structure compartment geometry on travelling fires. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Structures and Buildings 174(9): 739–748, https://doi.org/10.1680/jstbu.20.00073
Text:
© Constructalia
Images:
© ArcelorMittal Europe
© Carlo Hommel
© ArcelorMittal Construction