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Concrete is generally considered to perform well when exposed to fire since it is inorganic, noncombustible and does not give off noxious fumes. Moreover, as well as being noncombustible,
concrete is a poor conductor of heat and has a relatively high specific heat capacity, which
facilitates its use as a protection material to other elements and even as a heat storage medium.
There are, however, several issues that make the real behavior of concretes in fire conditions less
straightforward and these are related to compositional and phase changes within concrete
constituents and the behavior of absorbed moisture.
Concrete as a material, it is difficult to discuss this meaningfully without considering the
manner of its incorporation in structures and the temperature response of steel, either because of
the use of concrete with embedded steel reinforcement or because concrete is used to provide fire
protection for steel structures.
Essentials of Concrete Behavior
There are two principal effects of fires on structural concrete:
Loss in strength of matrix by degradation of hydrate structure. This occurs at various stages
from 300C upwards but the main losses are seen at 500C plus.
Spalling and shelling of the outermost concrete. This can occur with most concretes but the
extent and rate is influenced by aggregate type, moisture content, concrete quality, fire severity
and imposed stress condition.
The overall behavior of concrete in a fire is the result of the complex interaction of the
mechanisms of strength loss and spalling. Although there has been considerable research on
concrete in fires and individual mechanisms identified and understood, the complexity of the
interactions makes precise prediction of behavior of concrete in structures extremely difficult.
Fire Damage
Fire affects concrete in extreme ways, some of which are listed below:
1. Uneven volume changes in affected members, resulting in distortion, buckling and
cracking. The temperature gradients are extreme: from ambient 21C, to higher than
800C at the source of the fire and near the surface.
2. Spalling of rapidly expanding concrete surface from extreme heat near the source of the
fire. Some aggregates expand in bursts, spalling the adjacent matrix. Moisture rapidly
changes to steam, causing localized bursting of small pieces of concrete.
3. The cement mortar converts to quicklime at temperatures of 400C, thereby causing
disintegration of the concrete.
4. Reinforcing steel loses tensile capacity as the temperature rises.
5. Once the reinforcing steel is exposed by the spalling action, the steel expands more
rapidly than the surrounding concrete, causing buckling and loss of bond to adjacent
concrete where the reinforcement is fully encased.
Figure-20 shows the effect of fire in structure.
Complied by
S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT
Complied by
S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT
Figure-20
Complied by
S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT
increases spalling risk see below on high strength concrete. The second exception is concrete
made with Calcium aluminate cements. These have greater resistance to strength loss at high
temperatures and are used for specialist non-structural applications such as refractory linings or
industrial floor toppings in foundries
Spalling
Spalling of concrete in fires is the breaking-off of layers of the concrete surface in response to
the applied heat. Spalling can be either localized or widespread depending upon the fire and/or
concrete condition, particularly moisture content, and the susceptibility to break-up of heatunstable aggregate particles. On prolonged heating areas of concrete cover can also just fall
away, a process that is sometimes called sloughing. The processes causing sloughing are not
generally reported, although it is noted that it occurs from corners of beams and slabs and seems
to spread along a plane of weakness parallel to the outer surface. Because sloughing occurs late
in a fire exposure it is considered by some as being of less concern than explosive spalling that
occurs earlier upon exposure to fire. Understanding explosive spalling is important because of
the potential for loss in section of the concrete element, the depth of fire affected concrete and
the reduced protection to embedded steel. Spalling is a frequently observed phenomenon in fire;
more prominently on soffits of slabs and on beams because of the greater exposure to heat and
possibly heat entrapment.
The prediction of risk of spalling occurrence has not proven easy despite considerable
research. The propensity to spall is influenced by the moisture content of the concrete, the
permeability of the concrete, the rate of heating, the nature of the aggregate and the load applied
to the concrete. Although these separate contributing mechanisms have been identified, their
relative contribution and their interaction are less well understood. There are, however, general
trends that can be established. Concretes in a moist or saturated condition will spall faster and
more extensively the drier the concrete.
Influence of Aggregate type
The contribution of aggregate type to spalling and section loss is both from the nature of the
aggregate itself and the differences in temperature-related properties between aggregates and the
surrounding matrix. It is commonly found that siliceous aggregates such as flint gravels give the
poorest resistance to spalling. This is explained by being partly the result of markedly different
coefficients of thermal expansion between the aggregate and cement paste, particularly at higher
temperatures, and partly the result of a volume increase phase transformation (at approximately
570C) from -quartz to -quartz.
Limestone aggregates have generally been shown to give good fire resisting performance
but not all design codes have found the evidence consistent enough to give design guidance
differentiating that performance. There are several reasons why limestone type aggregates can be
expected to give improved resistance to degradation. First, the aggregates typically have lower
coefficient of thermal expansion than siliceous aggregates and they are closer to that of cement
paste, giving lower internal stresses on heating. There are also no solid state phase changes in
limestone aggregates within fire exposure conditions. On heating to temperatures in excess of
660C calcium carbonates begin to break down, similarly above 740C for magnesium
carbonates. On breaking down the minerals release carbon dioxide, in itself an endothermic
reaction, but the released carbon dioxide is claimed to give blanketing protection against heat
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S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT
transfer. The residual aggregate particles also have lower thermal conductivity, further reducing
heat transfer into the concrete.
Behavior of Concrete in Extreme fires
Concrete does not melt in the majority of extreme fire conditions but it could do so in
conditions such as created by, for example, a thermic lance (steel burning in a pure oxygen
environment). However, this is exceptional and is not normally considered in the design of
reinforced concrete subject to hydrocarbon fires.
Rapid heat rise in concrete causes evaporation of free and physically bound water and, at higher
temperatures, moisture loss by dehydration of cement hydrates. If the permeability of the
concrete is insufficient to allow an adequate rate of dissipation then the vapour pressure in the
pores of the concrete will rise. A contribution to the low apparent permeability-resisting vapour
dissipation is the vapour condensation further inside the concrete away from the fire. Once the
vapour pressure rises to a critical level cracking and explosive spalling will occur.
This explosive spalling can occur after only a few minutes and rates are quoted in some
reports of up to 3 mm/min for normal-weight aggregate concrete and up to 8 mm/ min for
lightweight aggregate concrete. More information is needed on these rates and the contribution
from the various parameters.
Other types of spalling such as local spalling and sloughing-off (gradual reduction of a
cross-section) that have been observed in cellulosic fires are possible but explosive spalling
seems to be the dominant form in an extreme hydrocarbon fire.
As was described earlier, concrete subjected to high temperature will suffer loss of
strength. The strength loss increases as the temperature increases and both the aggregate and the
cement hydrates are affected. At the very high peak temperatures in a hydrocarbon fire the
aggregate and cement hydrates may be completely destroyed. Many factors have an influence on
the performance of concrete in hydrocarbon fire but those with a primary influence are:
o the rate of temperature rise in the concrete
o the moisture content of the concrete
o the permeability of the concrete
These factors are interlinked but there is some evidence to suggest that, at least for low
permeability concrete, sufficient vapour pressure for damage to occur can be generated by
decomposition of cement hydration products alone, even where there is little or no free water
within the concrete pores. This would mean that indoor concrete would never dry sufficiently for
spalling not to be a problem and, that self-desiccation in concrete with a very low water/cement
ratio would not alleviate the problem.
The definition of satisfactory performance will be dependent on individual
circumstances. Nevertheless, it is likely that the very high rate of temperature rise in a
hydrocarbon fire will cause explosive spalling and loss of section at a high rate, particularly in
high strength concrete and lightweight aggregate concrete. Reinforcement could thus be exposed
to high temperatures in less than approximately 20 minutes depending on depth of cover and
other factors.
Complied by
S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT
Complied by
S.Praveenkumar/Assistant Professor/Department of Civil Engineering/PSGCT