Stability of Stainless Steel I-Section Beam-Columns at Elevated Temperatures

With the growing use of stainless steel in the construction and offshore industries, there is an increasing interest and need to study the performance of stainless structures at elevated temperatures. The behavior and design of stainless steel I-section beam-columns in fire is investigated in this paper, addressing a scarcity of previous research on this topic. Finite element (FE) models of stainless steel beam-columns, able to replicate their response at elevated temperatures, are created and validated; the validated models are then used to perform parametric studies to generate extensive benchmark structural performance data. The design rules set out in the European structural steel fire design standard EN 1993-1-2 are assessed and shown to provide rather inaccurate and often unsafe ultimate strength predictions for stainless steel I-section beam-columns in fire. New fire design rules for stainless steel beam-columns are put forward. It is shown that the new proposals are able to offer improved accuracy and design efficiency relative to the EN 1993-1-2 beam-column design rules. The reliability of the proposed design rules is also verified on the basis of the fire design reliability criteria set out by Kruppa [Eurocodes–Fire parts: Proposal for a methodology to check the accuracy of assessment methods, CEN TC 250, Horizontal Group Fire, Document no: 99/130 (1999)], thereby demonstrating the suitability of the proposed design rules for inclusion in the upcoming revised version of EN 1993-1-2.