Investigation of the stress and strain state of clay pipes under fire condition

The focus of this paper is given to investigating the testing and evaluation method of stress and deformation behaviour of clay pipe elements like chimneys under cyclic high temperature. The experimental study on the temperature–time curves and on the radial deformation–temperature curves of a series of fire-resistant clay pipes was carried out. The tensile strength and the compressive strength, the elastic modulus before and after fire, the stress and deformation properties and the cracking behaviour of the clay pipes under fire conditions have been analyzed. The theoretical analysis corresponds well with the experimental results and tends to prove that the elastic deformation can be the most significant component in fixed-end clay pipes. This study is useful for evaluation of the stress–strain properties of ceramic pipes and provides a beneficial test method for the pipe member in small-scale or in full-scale tests under fire temperatures.