The influence of the thermal expansion of beams on the structural behaviour of columns in steel-framed structures during a fire

In the UK, new design guidance is currently being developed for the behaviour of steel-framed buildings when subjected to fire. This is primarily based on recent research that considers the structural behaviour of all horizontal members, without applied fire protection, acting as a complete entity within the building. This guidance assumes that columns designed to current design procedures will always be adequate when used within this new design philosophy. For bare steel columns these existing design methods usually consist of applying some form of passive fire protection. ted in this paper is an analytical investigation of the structural behaviour of columns when subjected to various structural and fire scenarios. The results from this study do not endorse the view that current fire design methods for columns are adequate. These design methods will require revision if instability of columns during a fire is to be avoided. In most cases this will result in the need for additional passive fire protection to be applied to the steel columns.