Behavior of Steel–Concrete Partially Composite Beams Subjected to Fire—Part 1: Experimental Study

Partially composite steel–concrete beams are commonly used in building construction, and so the behavior of such beams in fire is an important problem. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the response of two composite beam specimens subject to fire exposure. The two specimens were nominally identical, except for the shear connection ratio. Based on room temperature calculations, one specimen was designed as fully composite, and the second was designed as partially composite with a 50% shear connection ratio. The concrete slab for each specimen was constructed with a flat steel deck and reinforcement was provided by a reinforcing bar truss. Both specimens were subject to a constant vertical load applied at four locations along the span and tested in a furnace with an ISO-834 standard fire. Both specimens achieved large deflections associated with flexural yielding of the composite beams and exhibited measured flexural capacities larger than predicted from Eurocode 4. Based on test measurements, the shear connection ratio had a significant influence on interface slip and uplift behavior of concrete slabs. Failure of the specimens was defined when the maximum deflection reached span/30. The fire exposure time needed to reach this definition of failure was nearly the same for both specimens, and was 51 min for the fully composite beam and 49 min for the partially composite beam. A companion paper considers the degradation of material properties with temperature and slips behavior of shear connectors at elevated temperatures and also provides an analytical approach to predict fire response of steel–concrete partially composite beams.