Abstract

Aim: The main goal of this article is to present the procedures and methodologies for assessing fire resistance of steel-beam floors.

Introduction: These technical solutions, popular many years ago, are currently experiencing a renaissance, both in case of the facilities which are currently designed, as well as those repaired or upgraded. Due to its simplicity and ease of implementation they apply perfectly just as ideal technology for repairs or even complete replacement of the existing floor structures. This type of floors was very often used in old houses and detached residential buildings constructed before World War II or shortly after its completion which, relatively frequently in the past few years, underwent fires. Also a considerable part of these solutions can be met in industrial buildings, built yet in the era of socialism. These arguments justify the need to take the subject of proper safety assessment of these technical solutions in respect of the legal provisions introduced after the Polish accession to the European Union and on the basis of the design provisions of the latest European package of structural design standards.

Methodology: The author introduces the reader to the concept of fire resistance evaluation of steel-beam floors, giving basic legal requirements in this regard, resulting from the necessity to satisfy the essential rules of European Directive 89/106/EEC, implemented to Polish building regulations. Then he specifies the procedures and methods of treatment, based on the provisions of the Eurocodes. A significant part of the study consists of suggestive calculation example, which may serve as a guide-book, in which the author, leading step-by-step detailed calculations, produces the ready-to-use template, intended for multiple use.

Conclusions: The carried out calculation analyzes and proposed method of reasoning can be also used to evaluate the fire resistance of slabs with similar technical solutions. The calculation example posted in the paper shows that, contrary to popular opinion, the use of standard fire model does not always lead to conservative estimates. This justifies the need for a special insight when assessing the environmental conditions of fire and the need to treat each design case very individually and with great attendance. The author concludes the article by formulating the set of some practical and applicable conclusions.

Keywords: fire, fire safety, structural element, steel joist, steel-beam floor, standard temperature-time fire scenario, parametric temperature-time fire scenario

Type of article: review article