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Effect of Tempeature On Construction Materials-Unit 1 - R1
Effect of Tempeature On Construction Materials-Unit 1 - R1
Effect of Tempeature On Construction Materials-Unit 1 - R1
TEMPEATURE ON
CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS
THE MANNER IN WHICH A MATERIAL RESPONDS TO
FIRE CAN BE CLASSIFIED AS
• Steel is used in construction as structural steel or as reinforcing steel for reinforced concrete.
• Structural steel is considered considerably more vulnerable to fire than reinforcing steels which
are encased in concrete.
• Steels are very good conductors and tend to be used in thin sections. They are, therefore, liable to
heat up very quickly in fires if not insulated.
• The rate of heating depends upon the parameters of thermal conductivity, specific heat and
density.
• The density of steel is approximately 7850 kg/m3.The thermal conductivity of steel is approx. 54
W/mK at room temperature and reduces to about half this value at 800◦C.
VARIATION OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY WITH
TEMPERATURE
VARIATION OF SPECIFIC HEAT WITH
TEMP
STRESS/STRAIN CURVES AT HIGH TEMP
COEFFICIENT OF THERMAL EXPANSION
• The coefficient of thermal expansion of steel, α, is around 12 × 10-6 /℃ and increases slightly with
temperature. At about 730℃, steel undergoes a phase change (energy is absorbed without increase in
temperature) and a denser structure results. The heat absorbed at phase change causes delay in further
temperature rise.
• A simple relationship provides a useful estimate of thermal expansion variation with temperature,
α = 6.1 × 10-6 +3.96-9∆T (1)
where, ∆T is the temperature change in ℃.
• The property of thermal expansion of structural steel can be both beneficial to the structure or be the
cause of great damage. For instance a steel beam anchored to a masonry wall can cause it to collapse by
expansion (during heating) or contraction (during cooling – this can make masonry walls very
hazardous in post-fire operations).
EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON CONCRETE
• Concrete has excellent fire resistance properties and maintains its integrity and strength in very high
temperatures. The thermal properties of concrete depend upon the aggregate type used, due to chemical
changes (crystal structure) in aggregate compounds. Three common types are; Siliceous aggregates
(gravel, granite, flint), calcareous aggregates (limestone) and lightweight aggregates made from sintered
fuel ash (Lytag) and expanded clay. Siliceous aggregate concretes have a tendency to spall due to high
thermal conductivity of such aggregate.
• Lightweight concrete (LWC) has the best thermal properties of all, i.e. less than half the thermal
conductivity (0.8 W/mK) of normal weight concrete (NWC) and consequently loses its strength at a
considerably lower rate. The thermal diffusivity of LWC is only slightly lower than NWC, so the extra
fire resistance in LWC comes not so much from reduced temperatures, but from the stability of the light
weight aggregates at high temperatures. The typical density of NWC is 2350 kg/m3 and that of LWC is
1850 kg/m3.
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF
VARIOUS CONCRETES WITH TEMP
VARIATION OF SPECIFIC HEAT WITH
TEMP
STRESS STRAIN CURVES FOR DENSE
CONCRETE
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF CONCRETE AT HIGH
TEMPERATURE
• So, in order to protect the steel from fire, BIS specify minimum
thickness of concrete cover to the steel reinforcement (IS 456 : 2000
and NBC-Part IV- Fire Protection )
Modulus of Elasticity:
• Modulus of elasticity of concrete reduces rapidly with increase in
temperature.
• These voids are called capillary pores. The capillary pores are
distributed in random throughout the mass of concrete and in
general, they are interconnected.
Case 2 :
• Depending on the environmental conditions such as
temperature, humidity, etc. to which the member is exposed,
these voids may be fully or partially filled with water and such
water is called capillary water ( or free water in concrete).
• As a result, the steam pressure will build up until the forces are
great enough to cause lateral fracture of concrete and thereby
spalling occurs.
• Due to the low thermal expansion, the char layer stays in place
even with continued heating.
Variation in strength:
• Up to 400 C - There is only slight deterioration in the compressive strength
• The main use of glass in buildings is in glazing for windows and doors. In this role, glass has
little resistance to fire and generally cracks very quickly because of the temperature difference
across the exposed surfaces.
• Double glazing does not improve this behaviour significantly.
• Wire reinforcement does provide relatively greater integrity, however in general glazing should
not be relied upon to remain intact in a fire.
BEHAVIOUR OF GLASS ON FIRE EXPOSURE
• The glass is drawn off one end of the molten tin, and gradually
cools and hardens into a glass sheet.
Annealed Glass –
• This type is most common.
• A temperature difference of about 80°C between the heated glass temperature and
the edge temperature is needed to initiate cracking.
• This is dependent on the thermal and mechanical properties for glass and may
vary.
• At that point, there is a crack running through the pane of glass, but there is no
effect on the ventilation available to the fire.
• For the air flows to be affected, the glass must not only crack, but a large piece or
pieces must fall out.
• Tempered glass shatters upon initial cracking, but the initial cracking does
not occur until the glass reaches rather high temperatures.
• Plain" glass was found to "break" when the exposed side reached 150-
175ºC, with the unexposed side being at 75-150ºC.
• The latter heat flux corresponded to 350ºC on the exposed face and 300ºC
on the unexposed face.
• The oldest category of the latter is wire glass. Nowadays, several types of
patented fire-resistive glasses also exist which are not wired glass.
• Such glasses can be assumed to have no ventilation flow until after their failure
time.
• It is, very difficult to predict when glass will actually break enough to fall out in a
real fire. 300°C appears to be a reasonable lower bound.
• Factors such as window size, frame type, glass thickness, glass defects,
and vertical temperature gradient may all be expected to have an effect
on glass fall-out.