Explosion and Fire Analysis of Steel Frames Using Fiber Element Approach

Abstract

Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the research and engineering communities have given significant attention to building performance under combined effects of impact, explosion, and fire. This paper presents a numerical approach for inelastic transient analysis of steel frame structures subjected to explosion loading followed by fire. The approach adopts the use of beam–column element and fiber element to enable a realistic modeling of the overall framework subjected to localized explosion and fire. Detailed requirements for modeling elasto–plastic materials subjected to elevated temperature and high-strain rates are presented. Verification examples are provided. The influence of blast loads on the fire resistance of a multistory steel frame is studied.