Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

An approach to account for tie configuration in predicting fire resistance

of reinforced concrete columns
Venkatesh Kodur a,⇑, Wasim Khaliq b, Nikhil Raut c
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
b
NUST Institute of Civil Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
c
Offshore Structural Analysis (SACS), Bentley Systems Inc., Metairie, LA 70002, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: High strength concrete (HSC) columns exhibit lower fire resistance, as compared to conventional normal
Received 21 December 2012 strength concrete columns, due to occurrence of fire induced spalling and faster degradation of strength
Revised 17 July 2013 and stiffness properties of concrete with temperature. Fire resistance tests on HSC columns have shown
Accepted 21 August 2013
that fire performance of HSC columns can be enhanced through bending the ends of ties at 135° into the
Available online 23 September 2013
concrete core, instead of bending the ties at 90°. This paper presents an analytical approach to model the
effect of tie configuration on fire resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) columns. The proposed approach
Keywords:
is based on seismic design principles and involves calculation of force acting on ties by evaluating effec-
Reinforced concrete columns
Fire resistance
tive stresses resulting from pore pressure, mechanical strain and thermal expansion. The resulting force
Tie configuration acting on ties is compared against temperature (time) dependent bond strength (at the tie–concrete
Spalling interface) to evaluate the failure of ties. The proposed tie sub-model is built into an existing macroscopic
Numerical model finite element based fire resistance analysis computer program that is capable of tracing the fire response
of reinforced concrete (RC) columns in the entire range of behavior. The predictions from the model are
compared against the full-scale fire resistance tests on RC columns to demonstrate the validity of the pro-
posed approach in evaluating the beneficial effect of 135° tie configuration. The validated model is
applied, through case studies, to quantify the effect of tie configuration on fire resistance of reinforced
concrete columns. Results from numerical studies clearly show that HSC columns with 135° bent ties
exhibit higher fire resistance than those HSC columns with 90° bent ties.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction To mitigate fire induced spalling, and thus increase fire resis-
tance of HSC structural members, researchers have recommended
Fire represents one of the most severe environmental condi- the addition of polypropylene and/or steel fibers to concrete mixes
tions in buildings; therefore, provision of appropriate fire safety [4–7]. Under fire conditions, the polypropylene fibers that are dis-
measures to structural members is an important aspect in building persed in concrete mix melt at relatively low temperature (about
design. Generally, structural members made of conventional con- 160–170 °C) and create randomly oriented micro- and macro-
crete exhibit good performance under fire situations. However, in channels inside concrete, which facilitate dissipation of fire in-
the last three decades a number of new types concrete have come duced vapor pressure [8,9] and thus enhance fire resistance of con-
into market place as a result of significant research and develop- crete members. In the case of steel fibers, tensile strength of
ment. These new concretes, often referred to as high strength con- concrete gets enhanced (both at ambient and elevated tempera-
crete (HSC) or high performance concrete (HPC), have excellent tures) as steel fibers help arrest the initiation and progression of
strength and durability properties, but exhibit lower fire perfor- microcracks [10,11]. This improved tensile strength of concrete is
mance due to fire induced spalling [1–3] and faster degradation sufficient to resist the vapor pressure generated from steam for a
of strength and stiffness properties of concrete with temperature. longer duration and thus the extent of spalling gets minimized
and fire resistance gets enhanced [9].
In lieu of adding fibers, some researchers recommend modify-
ing tie configuration to limit the spalling and enhance fire resis-
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: 3546 Engineering Building, Civil and Environ- tance [12,13]. These researchers, based on limited fire tests on
mental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Tel.:
HSC columns, have shown that fire performance of HSC columns
+1 5173539813; fax: +1 5174321827.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (V. Kodur), [email protected].
can be enhanced by bending the ends of ties at 135° into the
edu.pk (W. Khaliq), [email protected] (N. Raut). concrete core, instead of bending the ties at 90° [12,14]. Fig. 1

0141-0296/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2013.08.023
 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985 1977

Nomenclature

A parameter depending on pore pressure PV pore pressure

B parameter depending on pore pressure s tie spacing
C parameter depending on pore pressure scr critical tie spacing
Atie cross sectional area of tie t time
F0 average force acting along longitudinal rebar T temperature
Fbond bond strength r radius of steel rebar
Fbond,T bond strength at temperature T x coordinate along the length of rebar
fs,T stress in steel at temperature T rcore effective stress resultant from load induced stress, ther-
Ftie force developed in the ties mal stress and pore pressure
Ftie,T force acting on ties at temperature T rcore,T effective stress at temperature
F(x) force function along longitudinal rebar rmechanical stress resulting from axial load on column onto the
fy yield strength of steel at room temperature ties
Fv magnitude of variable part of force along longitudinal rPV stress due to pore pressure
rebar rthermal stress coming from thermal expansion of concrete core
ld development length of tie leg j curvature
M moment

illustrates two types of tie configuration that can be used in rein- mechanical strains. The force resulting from effective stress is com-
forced concrete (RC) columns and comparative state of HSC col- pared against the degrading bond strength of the tie. This tie sub-
umns after exposure to ASTM E119 standard fire [12]. model is built into a macroscopic finite element based fire resis-
Researchers hypothesized that 135° bent ties delay the opening tance computer program that is capable of evaluating the fire re-
up of ties during a fire event and thus enhance fire resistance of sponse of RC columns.
concrete columns. Kodur and McGrath [12], based on fire tests
have reported significant increase in fire resistance of HSC columns 2. Approach to model tie configuration
through altering the tie configuration from 90° to 135° bents and
also by reducing spacing of the ties. The beneficial effect of lateral confinement in concrete columns,
This improvement in fire resistance, resulting from 135° bent both tie configuration (bent at 135°) and closer spacing of ties, has
ties, is critical in realizing higher fire resistance in HSC columns. been well recognized in seismic design of columns [15,16]. This de-
However, at present, there is no analytical approach to quantify sign philosophy is based on the principle that the compressive
the effect of tie configuration on fire resistance of RC columns. To strength of the confined core of a column after stress induced spall-
develop such an approach, a numerical ‘tie sub-model’ was devel- ing should be equal to the strength of the gross section of the col-
oped to model the effect of tie configuration on fire response of RC umn before the occurrence of spalling [17]. The ties in columns,
columns. The approach is based on seismic design principles and when bent at 135°, achieve sufficient lateral confinement and en-
involves calculation of effective stress acting on ties which is the hance ductility of columns under earthquake loading [15,16,18].
sum of stresses generated from pore pressure, thermal and Similar approach, as that developed for seismic loading, can be

90˚ Hook

135˚ Hook

Column with 90˚ ties Column with 135˚ ties

(a) Tie configuration (b) HSC columns after fire tests

Fig. 1. Comparison of fire performance of RC columns with conventional 90° ties and modified 135° ties.
1978 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985

 2
applied to model the effect of tie configuration on fire resistance of s
reinforced concrete columns. However, in the case of fire condi- Fv ¼ F0 ð2Þ
scr
tions, stresses due to temperature induced vapor pressure and
thermal strains are to be considered in addition to stresses due By substituting the value of Fv back to Eq (1), the force acting on
to loading on the column. Also, bond strength that develops at longitudinal rebars can be calculated as:
"  2  #
the tie–concrete interface deteriorates with temperature and also
s 2p x
due to occurrence of fire induced spalling. The force acting on ties F ðxÞ ¼ F 0 1þ  cos ð3Þ
scr s
from effective stress should be checked against this bond strength
so as to ensure that the ties have sufficient resistance and do not The force developed in the ties (Ftie) can be obtained by integrat-
open-up through yielding. The importance of tie configuration in ing the force on longitudinal rebar and applying boundary
numerical models for predicting fire performance of RC members conditions:
have already been recognized [19], but this effect has not been ac- Z s=2
counted for in any such models. F tie ¼ 2 F ðxÞdx ð4Þ
When RC columns are exposed to fire, temperatures in concrete, 0
steel reinforcement and ties gradually increase. The increasing
Solving Eq (4) gives the total tie force acting on the corner of the
temperatures in concrete lead to build-up of pore pressure which
longitudinal rebar which translates to [15]:
cannot be dissipated due to low permeability of concrete (charac- p
teristic of HSC). When this pore pressure exceeds tensile strength F tie ¼ 2Atie sin rcore ð5Þ
of concrete, spalling occurs. The fire induced spalling in concrete 4
usually occurs in high strength concrete (HSC) structural members where Atie is the cross sectional area of tie and rcore is the stress
because of low permeability associated with HSC. Such spalling not resultant which is the sum of load induced stress, thermal stress
only leads to loss of cross-section in the column, but also reduces and pore pressure coming from concrete core.
the bond resistance of ties. Knowing the applied load on the column, load induced
When exposed to fire, significant level of internal stresses are (mechanical) stress can be evaluated at any given time step. It
generated on ties and these result from load induced mechanical should be noted that this stress significantly increases with
strains, temperature induced thermal expansion, and fire induced increasing temperature due to degradation of strength properties
vapor pressure as a result of water becoming vapor. These three of concrete and steel. Further, if there is any fire induced spalling,
stresses (thermal, mechanical, and vapor pressure) are added to the cross-section of column reduces and this leads to higher
evaluate the effective stress that acts as hoop stress on ties. The ties mechanical (load induced) stresses in the column. The second com-
resist this effective stress through bond strength developed in the ponent of the stress on the ties is the fire induced thermal stress
ties which also degrades with increasing temperatures. When the which can be evaluated knowing the temperatures in the column.
force resulting from effective stress exceeds the bond strength of The thermal stress is evaluated by utilizing the high temperature
ties, the ties will open up (fail) by yielding of steel. material properties and thermal expansion of concrete which var-
The necessary equations for confinement damage model under ies as a function of temperature.
fire conditions can be derived based on the approach adopted in The third component of the stress that is acting on ties is the
seismic analysis of concrete columns. The pressure exerted by pore pressure in concrete which can be evaluated through a hydro-
the expanding concrete core in the form of hoop stress on ties thermal model [20]. This model uses the principles of mechanics
and the effect of confinement of ties on longitudinal rebars can and thermodynamics, including the conservation of mass of liquid
be used to model the tie behavior. water and water vapor to predict pore pressure in a concrete mem-
Free body diagram of various components of an RC column and ber exposed to fire [21]. In the hydrothermal model, the mass
forces acting on rebar and ties is illustrated in Fig. 2. The longitudi- transfer equation for water vapor generated inside heated concrete
nal rebar between the two ties is subjected to a force which varies can be written as:
as sinusoidal wave function [15]. At the level of ties, a lateral re-  
dPV
straint is provided by tie corners, and the resulting force on longi- A ¼ rBrPV þ C ð6Þ
tudinal rebar is higher (Fig. 2a). At the mid-level between the two dt
ties, the force is the lowest as the concrete core can expand rela- where PV is the pore pressure, t the time, A, B and C are the param-
tively easily and thus exert force on longitudinal rebars. This force eters that depend on pore pressure, temperature, rate of increase in
varies along the longitudinal rebar and its variation can be taken temperature, permeability of concrete, initial moisture content, and
as: the isotherms used in the analysis. Isotherms are used to predict the
  liquid water inside concrete as a function of pore pressure for a con-
2px
F ðxÞ ¼ F 0 þ F m  cos P0 ð1Þ stant temperature.
s
Finite element analysis is used to solve Eq (6) and to compute
where F(x) is force function along longitudinal rebar, F0 the average pore pressure (PV) distribution within the elements of each seg-
force acting on longitudinal rebar; Fv the magnitude of variable part ment along the length of the structural member. With this stress
of force; x the coordinate along the length of rebar and s is the tie from pore pressure (rPV) inside concrete element is calculated
spacing as shown in Fig. 2(b) and (c). The unknowns in Eq. (1), F0 and is combined with other two stresses to get the effective stress
and Fv, can be determined by applying force equilibrium and geo- exerted by concrete core on ties. The equation governing this con-
metric boundary conditions. These two unknowns can be related dition is given by:
to tie spacing (s) and critical tie spacing (scr). Critical tie spacing
(scr), taken from the approach used in seismic design, is defined as
rcore ¼ rPV þ rthermal þ rmechanical ð7Þ
the distance between two ties such that the effective confined con- where rPV is stress due to pore pressure, rthermal is stress coming
crete area at mid-height between the two ties is zero [15]. from thermal expansion of concrete core and rmechanical is stress
This implies that if s = scr, at x = scr/2, the force exerted by ties on resulting from axial load on column onto the ties. With the effective
longitudinal rebars (F(x)) becomes zero, leading to variable part of stress (rcore,T) at temperature T known in the tie, the force acting on
the force Fv as: ties at temperature T (Ftie,T) is computed as:
 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985 1979

Fig. 2. Longitudinal rebars and transverse tie model with assumed forces, partly adopted from [15].

p
F tie;T ¼ 2Atie sin rcore;T ð8Þ reduction of bond strength to half of its initial strength. However,
4 in the case of 135° bent tie, the legs of the tie are bent into the inte-
The resisting force acting on the tie is the force developed be- rior concrete core and even when fire induced spalling occurs; the
tween the tie and the concrete interface [22]. This tie–concrete tie–concrete interaction (bond strength) is not fully lost. Therefore,
interface bond force is dependent on the length of the tie leg, the the bond strength of 135° bent ties does not substantially degrade
bar diameter and the yield strength of the steel rebar used as ties. and thus bending the ties at 135° provides significant benefit to fire
The bond strength (Fbond) can therefore be evaluated by taking into resistance.
account the yield strength of tie (steel) multiplied by the tie–con-
crete bond interaction area which is given by the relation for room 3. Incorporation of tie sub-model into the fire resistance model
temperature calculations as:
F bond ¼ ð2prld Þfy ð9Þ The above described ‘tie sub-model’ is incorporated into a mac-
roscopic finite element (MFE) based computer program for evalu-
where fy is the yield strength of steel at room temperature, ld is the ating fire resistance of RC columns. This MFE model utilizes
development length of the leg of the tie, and (r) is the radius of steel segmental Mj relationships to trace the fire response of RC col-
rebar used as tie. However, as steel strength also degrades with umns or beams [20,23]. The fire resistance analysis is carried out
temperature, the resulting bond strength resistance of the ties also by incrementing fire exposure time in steps. At each time step
decreases with temperature and is given by the relation: the analysis is carried out in three stages namely, (1) establishing
F bond;T ¼ ð2prld Þfs;T ð10Þ fire temperatures resulting from fire exposure; (2) carrying out
heat transfer analysis to determine temperature distribution in
where fs,T is the stress in steel at temperature T. the cross-section and evaluating pore pressure within the concrete
Knowing the force acting on ties and bond strength that devel- cross-section; and (3) performing strength and stiffness analysis of
ops in ties, the state of a tie can be checked and failure (opening up the member (column). In stage 3, fire induced axial restraint force
of ties) is said to occur when. in a column is calculated and then Mj relationships are generated
for various segments in the column. The output parameters gener-
F tie;T > F bond;T ð11Þ
ated at each time step, from the above program, include tempera-
It can be seen in Eq. (10) that the resistance of tie (Fbond,T) is tures at various locations (including rebars and ties), stress due to
dependent on temperature as well as the bond between tie–con- mechanical loading, thermal stress and pore pressure. Fig. 3 illus-
crete interfaces; therefore it is highly dependent on cross-sectional trates the flowchart showing schematic of main program and the
integrity of RC column. In case of fire induced spalling, the outer additional subroutines that are added.
concrete cover spalls-off and thus exposing the 90° bent ties to fire. The ‘tie sub-model’ is built into the above computer program in
In this case, the tie–concrete interaction is lost and this leads to stage 3 of the analysis. Using the generated stress values, the
1980 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985

Fig. 3. Flowchart showing steps to calculate forces in tie configuration subroutine.

effective stress at a given time step is evaluated as the sum of three parameters and strength capacities for FAC and FAC-P columns
stresses namely pore pressure, thermal and mechanical stresses. whereas Fig. A.1 shows moment–load interaction diagram for
The effective stress is utilized to compute the force acting on the FAC column. High temperature thermal and mechanical properties
ties. Also, the temperature dependent bond strength is evaluated of HPC proposed by Kodur and Khaliq [25] and Khaliq and Kodur
knowing the temperature in the ties. Then the force acting on each [26] are utilized in the analysis, whereas properties of reinforcing
tie is compared against bond strength to determine if the tie has steel used in the analysis are as per ASCE manual [27]. The columns
opened-up (yielded) at that time step. This procedure is continued were analyzed by exposing them to a design fire. Growth phase of
till failure occurred in ties leading to local buckling of longitudinal design fire is as per ASTM E119 standard time–temperature fire
rebars or failure occurred in column either through strength or curve [28] for 180 min and a decay phase followed a cooling rate
deflection limit state. of 4.16 °C/min for 240 min, similar to fire exposure encountered
during fire experiments.
The fire resistance of the columns was evaluated based on both
4. Validation of the numerical model strength and tie failure (yielding/opening) criteria. Predicted cross-
sectional temperatures from the analysis are compared with mea-
The validity of the above macroscopic finite element model is sured temperature values in fire tests in Figs. 6 and 7 for FAC and
established by comparing predictions from analysis with fire test FAC-P columns and in Fig. 8 for HSC2 Column. Comparison of mea-
data on RC columns. For validation, test data reported by Khaliq sured and predicted axial deformations are shown in Fig. 9. For val-
and Kodur [24] for two fly ash concrete columns namely FAC idation of temperatures, three points in the cross-section namely
(plain) and FAC-P (with polypropylene fibers) and also test data rebar, quarter depth and mid depth of column were selected as
published in the literature [14] on four HSC columns namely shown in Fig. 4. Predicted and measured fire resistance values
HSC2, HSC3, HSC5 and HSC6 is selected. These selected columns (failure times) are also tabulated and Table 1.
are few of the fire tests available in literature in which effect of Fig. 6 illustrates a comparison of predicted and measured tem-
tie configuration on fire response of RC columns was experimen- peratures as a function of fire exposure time at three selected
tally studied. points for FAC column. It is evident that the predicted tempera-
Details of test parameters and material properties of the se- tures compare well with the measured temperatures. As FAC col-
lected RC columns are tabulated in Table 1. The geometric proper- umn experienced spalling during fire test, the measured rebar
ties comprising of elevation and cross-section of FAC and FAC-P temperatures were quite erratic due to damage of thermocouple
columns are illustrated in Fig. 4 and that of columns HSC2, HSC3, resulting from spalling [20]. However, the temperature predicted
HSC5 and HSC6 are illustrated in Fig. 5. Appendix A gives design by the model at the rebar location is quite consistent without
 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985 1981

Table 1
Parameters and results for RC columns used in validation study.

S. Column Size Fire Tie Concrete Column Load Applied Relative Fire Fire Tie Extent of
no. designation (mm) scenario configuration strength – design ratio load humidity resistance – resistance – failure spalling
test day capacity (%) (kN) (%) measured predicted
(MPa) (kN) (min) (min)
1 FAC 203 Design 135°@h 107 2144 0.4 858 90 165 156 No Moderate
fireb
2 FAC-P 203 Design 135°@h 100 2020 0.4 808 90.25 NFa 270 No Nil
fireb
3 HSC2 406 ASTM 90°@h 86 5900 0.4 2406 86 224 213 No Severe
E119
4 HSC3 406 ASTM 90°@h 96 7400 0.6 4450 57 104 120 Yes Severe
E119
5 HSC5 305 ASTM 135°@h/4 120 3145 0.4 1250 68 290 282 No Low
E119
6 HSC6 305 ASTM 135°@h/4 120 3145 0.6 1890 64 266 254 No Low
E119
a
No failure.
b
Growth phase for ‘Design Fire’ followed ASTM E119 fire for 180 min and a decay phase followed a decay @4.16 °C/min for 240 min.

any disturbance. This stability in predicted temperatures can be failure of ties was encountered in this column. This conservative
attributed to handling of mathematical calculations by the numer- fire resistance prediction can be attributed to the high cross-sec-
ical model, which does not capture the extreme fluctuation in tem- tional temperature profiles predicted for FAC column due to occur-
peratures that occur due to spalling of concrete. A similar trend can rence of spalling. In the case of FAC-P column, no failure occurred
be observed between measured and predicted temperatures in in fire tests and model predictions also indicated no failure occur-
FAC-P column, shown in Fig. 7. This temperature difference is ring in this column. The variation in predicted fire resistance time
attributed to assumed permeability parameters in the model for HSC2, HSC3, HSC5 and HSC6 columns is less than 5% as shown
which could be slightly different form the actual permeability con- in Table 1. This clearly indicates that fire resistance predicted by
ditions in concrete (column) on melting of polypropylene fibers. the model is within acceptable range of measured values in fire
Also, the thermocouple at quarter depth might have been damaged tests.
due to spalling after approximately 150 min into exposure, thus Results from fire resistance analysis tabulated in Table 1 indi-
explaining erratic temperature reading. cate that in the case of column HSC2, with 90° ties, the ties did
Fig. 8 illustrates a comparison of predicted temperatures at not open-up (fail). However, in column HSC3 (with 90° ties), failure
three different cross-sectional locations, namely rebar, at of the column occurred just after the opening-up of ties at much
176 mm depth in concrete and at mid depth (in concrete) of col- earlier time into fire exposure. Column HSC3 failed in 120 min,
umn HSC2, with the measured temperatures from fire test. It can as compared to column HSC2 that lasted for 213 min. The failure
be seen that the predicted temperatures are generally in good of ties in column HSC3 is due to higher effective force acting on ties
agreement with measured values with lower temperatures at far- as a result of higher mechanical load (load ratio of 0.6) on the col-
ther locations from fire exposed surface throughout the fire expo- umn. Columns FAC, FAC-P, HSC5 and HSC6, with 135° bent ties, did
sure duration. not experience such failure in ties due to anchored tie legs. The
Fig. 9 shows comparison of axial deformation as a function of benefit of modified tie configuration (135° bent ties) is quite evi-
fire exposure time for columns FAC, FAC-P, HSC2 and HSC6. Under dent from fire resistance predictions in columns FAC, FAC-P,
fire conditions, the deformations in a column result from the ef- HSC5, and HSC6. Column HSC3 with 90° bent ties has much lower
fects of thermal expansion, loading and high temperature creep. fire resistance as compared to columns with 135° bent ties.
The model predictions are in good agreement with measured
deformations in fire resistance tests. All four columns experienced
expansion in early stages of fire exposure due to rise in tempera-
tures in concrete and steel rebars. For FAC, HSC2 and HSC6 col- 5. Case study
umns, the predicted deformations are much closer to the
measured deformations, however, in FAC-P column; the model To illustrate the applicability of ‘tie sub model’ in evaluating fire
predicted a slight variation in axial deformation from the mea- response, a case study was carried out on RC columns with differ-
sured values. This difference in predictions in FAC-P column can ent tie configurations and concrete strengths by exposing columns
be attributed to assumed permeability parameters for polypropyl- to ASTM E119 standard fire [28]. For the case study one NSC col-
ene fiber reinforced FAC that can change after the melting of poly- umn (NSC) and two HSC columns (HSC1 and HSC2) with 90° bent
propylene fibers. In the case of two HSC columns, column HSC2 ties and two similar HSC columns (HSC3 and HSC4) with 135° bent
experienced mostly expansion, while column HSC6 experienced ties were selected. The compressive strength and permeability of
contraction. This is because load induced deformations dominated concrete in NSC column is assumed to be 40 MPa and
in column HSC6 as a result of higher applied load (0.6 load ratio) on 2  1017 m2, while that in HSC columns it is 100 MPa and
the column, while the effect of thermal expansion dominated in 2  1018 m2 respectively. Columns NSC, HSC1 and HSC3 were axi-
column HSC2 with lower load (0.4 load ratio). ally loaded to 40% of their capacity, while columns HSC2 and HSC4
The fire resistance predicted by the model is compared to the were loaded to 60% of their room temperature capacity to study
measured fire resistance values for all six columns, namely FAC, the effect of load level. All five columns were of square cross sec-
FAC-P, HSC2, HSC3, HSC5 and HSC6 columns in Table 1. The fire tion of 305  305 mm, 3810 mm length, and steel reinforcement
resistance predicted by the model for FAC column was 156 min consisted of 4 #8 (25 mm) rebars as main reinforcement, and #3
as compared to 165 min reported in fire test. The failure predicted (10 mm) rebars as ties placed at 305 mm spacing. Specified yield
by the model for FAC column was based on strength criteria, as no strength of steel rebars and ties was assumed to be 420 MPa.
1982 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985

75 mm
203 mm
1000

Temperature (°C)
800

h = 203 mm
4 #6 (19mm) main 600
rebars Design Fire
400 FAC rebar (test)
#3 (10mm) ties FAC rebar (model)
10 mm ties (135°) @ 200 mm c/c

FAC quarter depth (test)

3350 mm length

200 FAC quarter depth (model)

FAC mid depth (test)
FAC mid depth (model)
0
50 mm cover 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420
h = 203 mm
Time (minutes)

Fig. 6. Comparison of measured and predicted temperatures in FAC column.

Quarter depth
h = 203 mm

Mid depth 1000

Temperature (°C)
Rebar 800

600
h = 203 mm
400 Design Fire
Elevation Cross-section FAC-P rebar (test)
FAC-P rebar (model)
200 FAC-P quarter depth (test)
Fig. 4. Elevation and cross-sectional details of FAC and FAC-P columns. FAC-P quarter depth (model)
FAC-P mid depth (test)
FAC-P mid depth (model)
0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420
Time (minutes)
h
Fig. 7. Comparison of measured and predicted temperatures in FAC-P column.
h = 406 mm

8 #8 (25mm)
main rebars
#3 (8mm) ties
10 mm ties (90° and 135°) @ 406 and 76 mm c/c

HSC2 rebar (test)

1000
HSC2 rebar (model)
HSC2 176 mm (test)
Temperature (°C)

800 HSC2 176 mm (model)

50 mm cover HSC2 mid depth (test)
3810 mm length

h = 406 mm HSC2 mid depth (model)

600

Columns HSC2 and HSC3

400

200
h = 305 mm

8 #5 (16 mm)
0
main rebars 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Time (minutes)
#3 (8mm) ties
Fig. 8. Comparison of measured and predicted temperatures in HSC2 column.

h = 305 mm time step, analysis is carried out by first establishing fire tempera-
tures (ASTM E119 fire scenario). Then thermal analysis is carried
Columns HSC5 and HSC6
out to evaluate cross-sectional temperatures and fire induced pore
Elevation Cross-section pressure. When the tensile stress in an element, resulting from
pore pressure, exceeds temperature dependent tensile strength of
Fig. 5. Elevation and cross-sectional details of HSC2, HSC3, HSC5 and HSC6
concrete, that element is removed from the cross-section for sub-
columns.
sequent analysis. Results from the analysis show that spalling of
concrete cover in HSC columns occurred in about 60 min. No spall-
Fig. 10 illustrates cross-sectional dimensions for columns used in ing occurred in NSC column due to high permeability of NSC. Fol-
this case study. lowing thermal analysis, strength and stiffness analysis is carried
Fire resistance analysis on five columns is carried out by ideal- out by accounting for high temperature concrete and steel proper-
izing each column into a number of segments along length and dis- ties. The output parameters namely temperatures at various loca-
cretization of each segment (cross-section) into elements. At each tions (ties), mechanical stress, thermal stress and pore pressure
 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985 1983

10 5
NSC
5 HSC1

Pore pressure (MPa)

4
Axial deflection (mm)

0 HSC2
HSC3
-5 FAC (test) 3
HSC4
FAC (model)
-10
FAC-P (test) 2
-15 FAC-P (model)
HSC2 (test) 1
-20
HSC2 (model)
-25 HSC6 (test)
0
HSC6 (model) 0 50 100 150 200 250
-30
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Time (min)
Time (mins) Fig. 11. Predicted pore pressure at cover depth for different RC columns.

Fig. 9. Comparison of measured and predicted axial deformations in FAC, FAC-P,

HSC2 and HSC6 columns.

1200 90° tie (NSC)

90° tie (HSC1)
are generated at each time step from the model. Using these

Bond strength (kN)

1000 90° tie (HSC2)
parameters effective stress is evaluated and the force acting on 135° tie (HSC3)
the tie is computed. Also, with increasing temperature in ties and 800 135° tie (HSC4)
loss of concrete cover, bond strength degrades with time. The force
acting on the tie is then checked against bond strength to evaluate 600
failure of the tie. This procedure is repeated at each time step till
400
failure of column occurs through reaching one of the failure limit
states [21]. 200
Fig. 11 illustrates predicted pore pressure in five columns as a
function of fire exposure time, where in pore pressure increases 0
with time, reaches a peak value and then drops with further in- 0 50 100 150 200 250
crease in time. The increase in pore pressure can be attributed to Time (min)
build-up of moisture clog resulting from moisture movement in-
Fig. 12. Predicted bond strength offered by various ties in selected columns.
side concrete matrix. As the temperature in concrete layers in-
crease beyond 100 °C, water present in concrete evaporates,
leading to build-up of pore pressure that increases with depth. This 1200
Eff tie stress (NSC)
pore pressure build-up drives part of water vapor to move away
Eff tie stress (HSC1)
1000 Eff tie stress (HSC2)
Bond strength 90 tie (NSC)
800
Force (kN)

Bond strength 90° tie (HSC1)

Bond strength 90° tie (HSC2)
305 mm 600
305 mm

4 #8 (25mm) 400
main rebars
#3 (10mm) ties 200
10 mm ties (90° and 135°) @ 305 mm c/c

0
0 90 180 270 360
Time (min)
50 mm cover
305 mm
3810 mm length

Fig. 13. Predicted effective tie force compared to bond strength in 90° tie in NSC,
NSC, HSC1 and HSC2 columns with 90° ties HSC1 and HSC2 columns.

from heated surface deep into the inner layers of concrete member.
This migrated water vapor condensates and results in saturation of
305 mm

4 #8 (25mm) concrete microstructure. This phenomenon is referred to as mois-

main rebars ture clog and depending on concrete microstructure (strength) this
#3 (10mm) ties can result in significant variation in pore pressure during fire expo-
sure [21]. The drop in pore pressure in an element is due to allevi-
ation of pore pressure, which occurs when spalling occurs.
Results in Fig. 11 show that pore pressure is highly dependent
on permeability of concrete, and a peak pore pressure of 4.5 MPa
305 mm gets developed in HSC concrete columns, whereas in NSC column
HSC3 and HSC4 columns with 135° ties it is closer to 1 MPa. The lower pore pressure in NSC column can
Elevation Cross-section be attributed to the fact that NSC has high permeability, which
facilitates dissipation of water vapor and thus there is no build-
Fig. 10. Elevation and cross-sections of RC columns used in case study. up of pore pressure. On the other hand in HSC columns, the lower
1984 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985

1200 The significant drop in bond strength in 90° bent ties, at about
Eff tie stress (HSC3)
60 min, results from loss of cover concrete from fire induced spall-
Eff tie stress (HSC4)
1000 ing. The bond strength reduces to half of its original value. Such
Bond strength 135° tie (HSC3)
loss in bond strength is not encountered in 135° bent ties as the
800 Bond strength 135° tie (HSC4)
legs of the ties are bent inward and embedded into the concrete
Force (kN)

core. Since no spalling occurs in the NSC column, the bond strength
600
does not degrade significantly in spite of this column having 90°
bent ties. The lower bond strength in columns HSC1 and HSC2 at
400
60 min into fire exposure occurs due to loss of concrete cover from
200 fire induced spalling.
The effective force that is acting on ties results from the combi-
0 nation of stresses generated from pore pressure, mechanical strain
0 90 180 270 (loading) and thermal strain in fire exposed columns. Fig. 13 illus-
Time (min) trates the effective tie force plotted against bond strength for col-
umns NSC, HSC1 and HSC2, with 90° bent ties. For NSC column,
Fig. 14. Predicted effective tie force compared to bond strength in 135° tie in HSC3
predicted effective tie force is much lower than resisting bond
and HSC4.
strength. This can be attributed to lower pore pressure that devel-
ops in NSC column and this leads to lower total effective stress un-
5000 der fire conditions. This indicates that for conventional NSC
Nominal Strength columns, changing tie configuration will not increase their fire
4000 Design Strength resistance.
ACI Eq 10-2 Due to fire induced spalling in HSC columns, HSC1 and HSC2
Load P - (kN)

3000 (with 90° bent ties), at about 60 min into fire exposure, bond
strength significantly decreases. The effective force acting on ties
2000 in column HSC2 increases with time and then reduces at a faster
rate than that in column HSC1. The predicted effective tie force
1000
in column HSC2 is higher than that in column HSC1 and this can
0
be attributed to higher effective stresses in ties in column HSC2
resulting from higher load level (60% of capacity). Results from
-1000 analysis show that column HSC2 failed due to opening-up of ties
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 (bent at 90°) by yielding at 120 min into fire exposure. On the other
Moment - M (kN-m) hand, ties did not fail in column HSC1, and this can be attributed to
lower mechanical stress induced from loading where the load level
Fig. A.1. Load–moment interaction diagram for FAC column.
was 40% of its capacity.
Fig. 14 illustrates the effective force on ties and resisting bond
permeability [29,30] does not facilitate escape of water vapor and strength in 135° bent ties for columns HSC3 and HSC4. Both of
resultantly, higher pore pressure gets developed in these columns. these columns had 135° bent ties and therefore exhibited similar
In addition to pore pressure development, another phenome- bond strength degradation in ties. However, as column HSC4 was
non that occurs with increase in cross-sectional temperatures is subjected to higher load level (load ratio of 0.6), the predicted
degradation of bond between reinforcement (ties) and concrete. effective tie force induced in column HSC4 was higher than that
The degradation of bond strength for different tie configurations in column HSC3 (with a load ratio of 0.4).
(90° and 135° ties) is illustrated in Fig. 12. The bond strength is dic- Although fire induced spalling occurred in columns HSC3 and
tated by temperature level in ties and any loss of cross section due HSC4 at 60 min into fire exposure, the predicted bond strength in
to fire induced spalling. ties was not lost as that in the case of columns HSC1 and HSC2 with
90° bent ties. This shows clear benefit of bending ties at 135° into
concrete core over conventional 90° bent ties. As a result of higher
bond strength in 135° bent ties, fire resistance of columns HSC3
Table A.1
Design parameters of FAC and FAC-P columns. and HSC4 was significantly increased.

Design parameter Notation Value

Gross area (cross- Ag 41,209 mm2 6. Practical implications
section = 203  203 mm)
Steel yield strength fy 420 MPa
The use of HSC in columns offers numerous advantages over
Steel area (4 # 6 bars) Ast 4  284 ¼ 1136 mm2
that of conventional NSC. However, HSC is much more susceptible
Length of column l 3300 mm
Concrete cover to main rebars for – 50 mm (ACI 216.1 to fire induced spalling and thus has lower fire resistance. This as-
minimum 2 h fire resistance 2.5.3) pect can be overcome either through addition of fibers or by recon-
figuring ties through bending the ends of ties at 135° into concrete

Table A.2
Calculated nominal and factored capacities of FAC and FAC-P columns.

Column Compressive Nominal load Design load Nominal moment Design moment – Column load capacity as per ACI 318
strength – fc0 (MPa) capacity – Pn (kN) capacity – Pu (kN) capacity – Mn (kN-m) Mn (kN-m) (2011) – Eq. (10)-2 (kN)

FAC 107 4123 2680 114 74 2144

FAC-P 100 3884 2524 108 70 2020
 V. Kodur et al. / Engineering Structures 56 (2013) 1976–1985 1985

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columns 3-46.
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