Tad-Song Kho - Research Student

Telephone: 25727
Room: D120

email : t.s.kho@sheffield.ac.uk

Research Group

Research Project

Modelling Localized Fracture in Composite Floors Under Fire Conditions

It is evident from a series of tests on simply supported reinforced concrete slabs that the failure of the slabs at large deflections is due to the formation of individual large cracks, which was also observed in the Cardington full-scale fire tests. These cracks could potentially result in fire spreading into the compartments above. Previous research indicates that the global behaviour of concrete slabs subject to large deflections can be well predicted by the smeared cracking model; however, the model cannot quantitatively predict the openings of individual cracks within the slabs at large deflection. The direct aim of the project is to develop a practical and robust numerical procedure to model localized fracture of reinforced concrete slabs at high temperatures. The model should have the ability to assess both the structural stability and the integrity of floor slabs, in order to identify meaningful fire resistance failure points, and should be suitable for direct employment in structural fire engineering design of composite and concrete buildings.