Design and Construction of Long-Span Composite Beam Specimens for Large Structural-Fire Tests

Published

May 10, 2018

Author(s)

Selvarajah Ramesh, Lisa Choe, Matthew Hoehler, William L. Grosshandler, John L. Gross

Abstract

A series of experiments is being conducted on five 12.8 m long composite floor beams at the newly-commissioned National Fire Research Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The test beams were designed according to current U.S. building codes with input and design-review provided by panel of expert practitioners. Each specimen consists of a W18x35 beam and a 1.83 m wide lightweight concrete slab cast over profiled steel deck units. Composite action between the steel beam and concrete slab is achieved using 19 mm diameter steel shear connectors spaced at 305 mm on center. One of the five specimens was tested at ambient temperature to measure its behavior and flexural strength, and to verify the purpose-built mechanical loading system. The remaining four specimens will be tested under simultaneously applied mechanical loading and an enclosure fire using a natural gas fuel delivery system. The beam-to-column connections and rotational restraint of the slab ends over the support girders were varied among those four specimens.

Proceedings Title

Structures Congress 2018

Conference Dates

April 19-21, 2018

Conference Location

Fort Worth, TX, US

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784481325.017

Local Download

Keywords

Steel-concrete composite beams, structural-fire testing, national fire research laboratory

Citation

Ramesh, S. , Choe, L. , Hoehler, M. , Grosshandler, W. and Gross, J. (2018), Design and Construction of Long-Span Composite Beam Specimens for Large Structural-Fire Tests, Structures Congress 2018, Fort Worth, TX, US, [online], https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784481325.017, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=924726 (Accessed October 9, 2025)