Citation

Zhang X, Peng L, Ni ZP, Ni TX, Huang YL, Zhou Y. Materials (Basel) 2018; 11(3): e11030437.

Affiliation

School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410075, China. zyzhou@csu.edu.cn.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ma11030437

PMID

29547574

Abstract

Experimental research was conducted to study the fire resistance of steel tubular columns used in prefabricated and modular construction. In order to achieve high-efficient prefabrication and fast on-site installation, membrane protections using board products and thermal insulation blankets are adopted as the favorable protection method. Three protected tubular columns were tested in a full-scale column furnace with axial load applied. The study variables were different membranes, including fiber reinforced calcium silicate (FRCS) boards, rock wool and aluminum silica (Fiberfrax) insulations. The results suggest that one layer of 12 mm FRCS board with rock wool insulation has insufficient fire protection. However, steel columns protected with two layers of 12 mm FRCS boards with insulation appeared to have good fire resistances and could achieve a fire resistance rating as high as 2.5~3.0 h.

Language: en

Keywords

axial load; hollow structural section (HSS); membrane protection; prefabricated and modular construction; steel tubular column