EFFECTS OF FIRE AND HIGH TEMPERATURES ON THE

PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

M. L. Subhashini
Introduction
Concrete is a composite material produced from aggregate, cement and water and it is
possibly exposed to elevated temperatures during the fire or when it near to furnaces and
reactors. When concrete is exposed to fire, it can be assumed that the both physical and
Mechanical properties of concrete may be changed and it may cause to reduce the strength
and durability of the concrete structures. Hence identifying the changes of concrete properties
is much needed when designing the concrete structures where the areas which are exposed to
the fire or elevated temperatures.

Objective of the Research

The main objective of the research is to identify the effect of elevated temperatures for the
selected concrete properties by doing physical and mechanical tests.

Literature Review
In previously, large numbers of researchers have done lots of researches and published their
papers regarding the changes of concrete properties when it exposed to the fire. The
mechanical properties such as strength, modulus of elasticity and volume stability of concrete
are significantly reduced during these exposures. This may result in undesirable structural
failures (F Ali, 2004). When exposed to high temperature, the chemical composition and
physical structure of the concrete change considerably. The dehydration such as the release of
chemically bound water from the calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) becomes significant above
about 110 0C (GA Khoury, 2002). When concrete is exposed to fire, the effects of water /
cement (w/c) ratio and type of aggregate on losses in weight were not found to be significant.
The effect of high temperatures on the strength of concrete was more pronounced for
concrete mixtures produced by river gravel aggregate (Arioz, 2007).

Methodology
Several numbers of concrete mixtures will be prepared by using different cement types and
different aggregate sizes. Initial properties of the concrete will be tested and tabulated. Then
concrete mixture will be subjected to elevated temperature and the properties will be tested.

Result and Discussion

After comparison of the properties of concrete at the initial condition and after subjected to
the elevated temperature, effects of the temperature variations for the concrete properties can
be identified. Then conclusion can be prepared.

References
Arioz, O. (2007). Effects of elevated temperatures on properties of concrete. Fire safety
journal.
F Ali, A. N.-T. (2004). Outcomes of a major research on fire resistance of concrete columns.
Fire Safety Journal.
GA Khoury, C. M. (2002). Modelling of heated concrete. Magazine of Concrete Research.