Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121

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Fire Safety Journal

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Experiments on membrane action of composite floors with steel fibre

reinforced concrete slab exposed to fire
Jan Bednář, František Wald n, Jan Vodička, Alena Kohoutková
Czech Technical University in Prague, Department of Steel and Timber Structures, Thakurova 7, Prague 6, 166 29 Czech Republic

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The resistance of composite floor structures traditionally composes of the elemental resistance of the
Received 16 June 2012 concrete slab and that of the composite beams. The fire resistance of a properly designed floor structure
Received in revised form increases due to its membrane behaviour. Its evaluation is based on advanced as well as simple design
4 April 2013
procedures approved by tests, for partially protected floors reaching 60 min and more. Composite
Accepted 15 April 2013
Available online 16 May 2013
structures are increasingly reinforced by steel fibres instead of steel bars. Due to an equal distribution of
reinforcement steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) achieves better deformation capacity compared to
Keywords: the traditional reinforced concrete even at elevated temperatures. Therefore, questions have been raised
Fire design about its fire resistance and utilisation of membrane action of the floor.
Composite steel to concrete structure
In the last two years, composite SFRC floor slabs at ambient and at elevated temperature have been
Composite floor slab
tested at the Czech Technical University in Prague. At elevated temperatures, the floor was only partially
Steel fibre reinforced concrete
Experiments fire protected. Intermediate beams and SFRC slab in steel sheeting remained unprotected. Concrete
Slab resistance slabs were reinforced by steel fibres only without added steel bars. The main aim of the tests was to
demonstrate the sufficient properties of the SFRC slab in fire. For the fire resistance of the floor slabs, it is
important for the material to have sufficient ductility and adequate tensile and shear strength. These
material properties of the SFRC allow for the slab to create a different load bearing mechanism, which increases
its fire resistance. Hence, the SFRC slabs have been tested at ambient and at elevated temperature with a focus
on ductility and tensile strength of the material.
& 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction accidental design state, such as during a fire, large displacements of

The design of concrete, composite steel–concrete and compo-
site timber–concrete slabs for fire resistance is usually based on
prescriptive ratings that specify the minimum slab thicknesses and
the required concrete cover of the reinforcement. These ratings
are generally based on standard fire resistance tests of particular
elements using furnaces. However, such approach does not repre-
sent a real structure as a whole as it does not account for overall
floor behaviour. Fire resistance ratings of full floor systems may
be higher than those of single elements because the compressive
restraint in the edging of the slab allows for membrane action to
develop in the central part of the slab, see [1,2], increasing the
time to failure of the elements compared to the standard tests.
For ambient conditions, see [3], a theory to determine the load
carrying capacity of reinforced concrete slabs at large deflections
was developed with considering the tensile membrane action. In an
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 224 354 757; fax: +420 233 337 466.
E-mail addresses: jan.bednar@fsv.cvut.cz (J. Bednář), wald@fsv.cvut.cz (F. Wald),
vodicka@fsv.cvut.cz (J. Vodička), kohoutkova@fsv.cvut.cz (A. Kohoutková).
the structure are acceptable provided that overall structural collapse
is prevented. Significant piece of analytical work on the steel concrete
composite slabs has been accomplished based on the fire test results
in the frame of the Cardington building experiment. Between 1995
and 2003, a fire testing programme was conducted on a steel-frame
building which included a composite floor slab, commonly referred
to as the Cardington building. Total of seven compartment fire tests
were conducted on the building and, contrarily to previous designs, all
the steel beams were left unprotected within each fire compartment,
see [4]. Although all beams were unprotected, the structure showed
no signs of collapse even at steel beam temperatures exceeding
1000 1C, which represents the reduction of the bending resistance to
3–7%. The residual vertical displacements of the heated beams and
composite floor slab were large and in some cases exceeded 500 mm,
see [5]. A design method that is based on fundamental engineering
principles has been presented, see [6], which allows for the membrane
capacity of the slab to be estimated by considering the components of
the composite slab which retain significant strength during a fire. The
design method has been validated against the Cardington laboratory
fire tests, against a number of cold slab tests at large displacements
and against tests on floors heated by a nominal standard curve. The
second generation of the practical application manual, see [7], allows

0379-7112/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.firesaf.2013.04.008
112 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121
List of symbols
a is the aspect ratio of the slab (L/l)
b, k is coefficient expressing magnitude of
membrane force
ft,i‰,θ is the tensile strength for strain i‰ at elevated
temperature θ
ft,i‰ is the tensile strength for strain i‰ at ambient
temperature
qk is the characteristic value of a uniformly
distributed load
qk,fi is the characteristic value of a uniformly distributed
load at fire condition
hs is height of the slab
kc,tθ is the reduction coefficient for tensile strength of
concrete
kt,i‰ is the reduction coefficient related to the tensile
strength for strain i at ambient temperature
kt,max is the reduction coefficient related to the maximum
tensile strength at ambient temperature
l is the shorter span of the composite slab
m is the bending resistance of the slab per one meter
[kN m/m]
n is parameter defined of yield line pattern
ps,R is the load-bearing capacity of the slab per square
meter [kN/m2]
w is the total deflection of the slab
wlim is limit of deflection of the slab for the simply
design method
for this proposal to be applied for design of the steel–concrete slabs in
practice, in accordance to European design standards EN1991-1-2 [8],
EN1993-1-2 [9] and EN1994-1-4 [10], based on set of experiments and
FE simulations.
The ductility of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) broadens
the range of application of the reinforced concrete and composite
steel–concrete structures, see [11]. The combination of the closely
observed parameters, such as high strength, ductility and dur-
ability, while retaining easy formability of products with possibi-
lity of high quality surface finishing, ranks these composites
among the most progressive construction materials. These materi-
als are characterized by high resistance to cracking, corrosion,
abrasion, impacts, fatigue and good resistance in exposition to
the high temperatures, see [12]. Steel fibre reinforcement helps to
maintain the residual strength and fracture toughness after being
heated, see [13]. To ensure the material properties, technological
conditions were elaborated, which involved: definitions, testing
procedures, evaluation of performed tests and evaluation of SFRC
strength and ductility characteristics. In addition to standard tests,
see [14] and [15], which are analogous to those of plain concrete,
the four-point bending test was chosen as determinative test to
specify ductility characteristics, see Fig. 1.
The specimens were tested in a hydraulic press, which is
governed by force. The speed of loading was kept at ΔF¼0.4 kN/s
until macrocracks formed. After forming macrocracks, the force
was reduced. The specimens tested at elevated temperatures were
heated up directly in the press. Fig. 2 shows evaluation of the four-
point bending test.
The force deflection diagram of the four-point bending test
shows the major difference between SFRC composite before and
after reaching the macrocracks. At the cracking limit state (CLS),
when the macrocracks occur in the critical cross-section, the highest
wt is deflection of the slab due to the thermal gradient
along the slab height
wε is deflection of the slab due to the elongation of
the slab
FC is resultant of compressive force
FRk,res,i is the average value of the residual resistance of the
test element at its corresponding deflection δti
FRm,c is the average value of the resistance of the element at
the ultimate rupture
FTi is resultant of tensile force
FTK0 is resistance of the steel fibre reinforced concrete per
unit length
L is the longer span of the composite slab
VS is in plane shear in the yield lines
αc is thermal expansion of the concrete
Δδti is increment of the deflection
δti is deflection of prism
εfc is strain of SFRC
ξ1 is ratio of the compression area to whole height of
section after CLS
εfc,t is tensile strain of SFRC
ηfi,t is the load level for fire design
θ1 is temperature of the top surface of slab
θ2 is temperature of the bottom surface of slab
θg is the gas temperature
μ is the ratio of the yield moment capacity of the slab in
orthogonal directions, should always be less than or
equal to 1.0
resistance in bending is achieved. Nonlinear behaviour activates
before reaching the CLS due to microcracking. The behaviour at this
stage may be described using quasi-linear-elastic model (QLE). After
the developed macrocracks open, the lengths of cracks increases and
the steel fibres in critical cross-sections are activated and the part of
the cross-section in compression reduces. This part of the curve may
be represented using quasi-plastic behaviour (QPL) model. The
conventional resistance at ambient temperature is defined at a value
of deflection of 3.5 mm. The SFRC is expected to provide at least one
third of the maximum resistance at this stage, otherwise it is not
considered reinforced.
On the force deflection diagram resulting from the four-point
bending test in Fig. 2, the following is shown: (CLS)m the ultimate
stage of microcracking average value; (CLS)k the ultimate stage of
macro-cracking characteristic value; FRm,c the average value of
the resistance of the element at the ultimate rupture; FRk,res,1 the
average value of the residual resistance of the test element at
its corresponding deflection δt1; FRk,res,2 the average value of the
residual resistance of the test element in the decline at the local
minimum and the deflection δt2; and FRk,res,3 the average value of
the residual resistance of the test element in the rise of the local
maximum at the deflection δt3. The relative deflections in terms of
length may be calculated as Δδt ¼δt/600 [mm/mm], see Fig. 1.
In the frame of the presented project, composite floor slabs of
4.5  3 m2 were designed to investigate behaviour of the SFRC at
large deflections during the fire situation. Four slabs were tested
at the ambient temperature and two at elevated temperature. The
slabs of 40 mm thickness were made by pouring self-consolidating
concrete into trapezoidal sheets TR40/160/0.75. The secondary
internal and edge beams as well as primary beams were design as
composite with cross section IPE100 and connectors of diameter
12.5 mm and height 70 mm in distance 160 mm, for primary
 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121 113

Fig. 1. Flexural strength test on a recommended standardized prism.

Specimen A
Specimen B
(CLS)m
Specimen C
FRm,c
(CLS)k Average value
Characteristic value
FRk,c
Force FR [kN]

FRk,res,1

FRk,res,2 FRk,res,3

Km (minFRk,res,1) FRk,res,3

δt1 = 3.5
δtk,c
δtm,c

δt3

Deflection δt [mm]

Fig. 2. Marking important points at force–deflection diagram from four-point bending test.

beams 300 mm. The beam to beam simple connections were Table 1
created by header plates, P10 with four bolts M12. The concrete Composition of the tested steel fibre reinforced concrete.
was reinforced with hooked-end 0.75  50 mm2 steel fibres of
Mixture for Mixture for
strength of 1100 MPa, using 70 kg and 50 kg per cubic meter, see Composition (kg/m3)
tests 2010 tests 2011
Table 1. The SFRC was transported to site by mixer truck within
50 min from the preparation and was poured within another CEM I 42,5R Mokrá 330 350
60 min. Four slabs were tested at ambient temperatures and two Aggregate 0/4 mm Suchdol 948 948
Aggregate 8/16 mm Nemojov 669 669
at elevated temperatures with adequate material. The spread of
Addition of fly ash Mělník 140 140
steel fibres were checked during dismantling of all test specimens. Addition ViscoCrete 3.96 3.96
In all cases the uniform spread and the confining structure of steel Water 190 190
fibres were observed. Steel fibre HE 75/50 Arcelor 70 –
Steel fibre Krampe Harex DE 60/0.8 N – 50
Polypropylene fibre 1.5 –

2. Material tests

2.1. Steel fibre reinforced concrete at ambient temperatures

Sets of three tests on the materials properties were performed:
the standard cube compressive test on compressive strength accord-
ing to [14], the standard cube tensile test on tensile strength and four-
points bending test on tensile strength and ductility. The cylinder
tests were not conducted. The characteristics of the SFRC, which
was prepared in concrete plant in the town Jindřichův Hradec, are
summarised below. Nine cubes dimensions of 150  150  150 mm3
and nine prisms dimensions of 150  150  700 mm3 were made of
each mixture. The cubes were tested in simple compression and in
four-point bending test at temperatures 20 1C, 500 1C and 600 1C.
The average strength in compression of 68.3 MPa was mea-
sured in six cubes and the average tensile strength of 7.1 MPa was
measured in three cubes under lateral tension. This concrete was
used on the test of the slab at elevated temperatures. 2  3 prisms
were tested at ambient temperature 21.2 1C. The prisms were
tested by a four-point bending test, see Fig. 3 showing a specimen
after creation of the macro-crack. The SFRC reached average tensile
114 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121

strength was 5.78 MPa at the relative deflection 1/1086. The strain
in the SFRC was calculated till the cracking limit state (CLS)
occurred as
εfc;t ¼ 2:0δti ½‰
where εfc,t is tensile strain of SFRC and δti is deflection of a prism.
After the cracking limit state (CLS) was reached the strain was
determined as
εfc;t ¼ ð4:0δti þ 1; 67Δ δti Þ ð1−ξ1 Þ ½‰
where Δδti is increment of the deflection and ξ1 is ratio of the
compression area to whole height of section after CLS.
At the level of initiation of the macrocracks reached the average
ductility 1.1‰. The load deflection diagrams are shown in Fig. 4.
After creating the macrocracks, stretching increased and load
bearing capacity decreased. In this diagram, the measured deflec-
tions up to 6.5 mm only are shown, evaluated at ambient
temperatures. This shows the behaviour at larger deflections at
ambient temperature in graph and includes the curve H2-20-ADD,
which represents the test of the specimen from different batch
with the same composition.
ð1Þ
2.2. Steel fibre reinforced concrete at elevated temperatures
The four-point bending tests were performed on the speci-
ð2Þ mens, that were heated up to 500 1C and 600 1C by five electrical
ceramics heaters attached to specimens in the test machine, see
Fig. 5. The specimens were thermally protected and were being
heated for 4 h until reaching and stabilizing the intended homo-
genous temperature. Four thermocouples were located on surface
and in the concrete block in depth 20 mm, 40 mm and 60 mm. At
this stage, according to the thermocouples, the temperature varied
by less than 3% across the prism cross-sections. The deflections

Fig. 3. Prism after the test at ambient temperature, test H20. Fig. 5. The specimen during the heating in four-point bending test.

40
H7-20
for εR60 = 6‰ H8-20

35 H9-20
δ = 3.5mm for εR90 = 10‰ for εR120 = 14‰ HA-20
H2-20-ADD
30

25
Force (kN)

at ffc,tm,8 = 2.61MPa

20

17.73 at ffc,tm,10 = 2.19MPa

15
12.37
at ffc,tm,10 = 1.65MPa
10
9.32

0
0 2 3.3 4 5.76 8 8.4 10 12 14 16
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 4. Diagrams from the test of the specimens at ambient temperature.
 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121 115

were measured by two deflectometers. The loading procedure
follows the test procedure at ambient temperature, see Fig. 3.
The four-point bending test was applied to two sets of three
prisms at 500 1C and 600 1C. The ductility was calculated at the
initiation of the macro-cracks; see Figs. 6 and 7, due to constant
temperature during the loading taken into account the mechanical
strain only. The specimens were tested at steady-state testing
regime, heated and then loaded and the strain reports to the
mechanical loading only. At temperature 500 1C, the material
achieved average tensile strength of 3.38 MPa with average ducti-
lity 6.88‰ at the relative deflection 1/175. At 600 1C it reached
only 1.47 MPa and ductility 8.4‰ at the relative deflection 1/143.

40
for εR120 = 14‰ H4-500
for εR60 = 6‰
H5-500
H6-500
35 for εR90 = 10‰
δ = 3.5mm HA-500

30

25
Force (kN)

at ffc,tm,8 = 3.34 MPa

at ffc,tm,10 = 3.09MPa
20
18.81
17.42
15
at ffc,tm,14 = 1.98MPa

11.12
10

0
3.0 4.6 6.7
0 2 4 5 6 8 10 12 14 16
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 6. Force–deflection diagram of the tests on specimens at 500 1C..

40
H7-600
for εR120 = 14‰
for εR60 = 6‰ H8-600
H9-600
35 δ = 3.5mm HA-600
for εR90 = 10‰

30

25
Force (kN)

20

15

at ffc,tm,8 = 1.45MPa
10
8.20 at ffc,tm,14 = 1.37MPa
8.25
7.73
5
at ffc,tm,10 = 1.46MPa

0
0 2 3.0 4 4.3 5.6 6 8 10 12 14 16
Deflection (mm)
Fig. 7. Force–deflection diagram of the tests on specimens at 600 1C..
116 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121

The average values of tensile strength, the ductility in the time
of creating the macro-cracks and at strain 6‰, 10‰ and 14‰
are summarised in Table 2. In this table are also compared the
reduction coefficients related to the maximum average tensile
strength at ambient temperature kt,max ¼ft,θ/ft and the reduction
coefficients related to the average tensile strength for strain 6‰;
10‰; and 14‰ at ambient temperature kt,6‰ ¼ ft,6‰,θ/ft,6‰; kt,10‰ ¼
ft,10‰,θ/ft,10‰; and kt,14‰ ¼ft,14‰,θ/ft,14‰ to values for plane concrete
kc,tθ according to EN1994-1-4, see [10], and to values for SFRC kt,k
published by Rustin and Kodur, see [11].
3. Experiments with slab
3.1. Tests at ambient temperature
The tests at ambient temperature were performed in Prague in
UTAM laboratory. The mechanical loading was introduced by four
jacks through triangular rigid devices with contact 900 mm to
750 mm welded from UCB 120 and HEB 120 cross sections size, see
Fig. 8. The results of the tests at ambient temperatures AMB-BE-1,
AMB-PL-1, AMB-PL-2 and AMB-PL-3 were used as a reference to the
tests at elevated temperatures ELE-BE-1 and ELE-BE-2. The tests at
ambient temperature showed clearly the development of yield lines,
which correspond to pattern observed in slabs with reinforcing net,
see [1]. The behaviour of the SFRC slab was recorded by eleven
deflectometers. Five deflectometers were installed to measure the
vertical deflections and six to measure the horizontal deflections. In
2010, the floor slab with internal beams, test set-up AMB-BE-1,
reached a deflection 132 mm and the slab without internal beams,
test set-up AMB-PL-1, deflected by 162 mm. The slab resistance with
internal beams, test set-up AMB-BE-1, exceeded 29.5 kN/m2 and
without internals beams, test set-up AMB-PL-1, 15.8 kN/m2. Two floor
slabs without internal beams, test set-ups AMB-PL-2 and AMB-PL-3,
were tested in 2011 only. The slabs were designed with the same size
but with different reinforcing, see Table 1. The slab AMB-PL-2 reached
the deflection 151 mm under the loading of 13.5 kN/m2. At this stage
the crack propagates through the full depth of slab. The slab AM-PL-3
reached the deflection over 179 mm at loading of 11.9 kN/m2 Fig. 9.
At first, the slabs cracked around the corners. This cracking of
the concrete did not have any effect on the integrity of the floor
slab on the edge. These cracks resulted from negative bending

Table 2
Tensile strength at ambient and elevated temperature with corresponding reduction coefficients.

Specimen Max tensile Tensile strength Tensile strength Tensile strength kt,max kt,6‰ kt,10‰ kt,14‰ kctθ [10] kt,k [11]
strength (MPa) for ε¼ 6‰ (MPa) for ε ¼10‰ (MPa) for ε¼ 14‰ (MPa)

H1-20 5.41 2.88 1.92 – 1.00 0.55 0.38 – 1.00 1.00

H2-20 5.84 3.56 2.40 –
H3-20 6.11 3.09 2.31 –
HA-20 5.78 3.15 2.20 –
H4-500 2.92 2.86 2.89 1.67 0.59 0.58 0.53 0.34 0.20 0.43
H5-500 4.50 4.31 2.95 2.18
H6-500 3.15 2.83 3.13 2.94
HA-500 3.38 3.34 3.09 1.98
H7-600 1.69 1.59 1.69 1.67 0.26 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.00 0.30
H8-600 1.34 1.29 1.34 1.32
H9-600 1.56 1.45 1.06 0.83
HA-600 1.47 1.45 1.46 1.37

Fig. 8. Sizes of the specimens, loading points and location of the deflectometers on the floor slabs tests.
 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121
Fig. 9. Loading of the floor slab at ambient temperature by four jacks, each in three
contact points, the specimen AMB-PL-1.
Fig. 10. Top view of the slab after the test at ambient temperature, the specimen
AMB-PL-1.
moments, which formed due to the connection of the slab by
headed studs. The next cracks formed along the edge beams.
The final cracks in all four tests developed in the shorter span,
see Figs. 10 and 11. This mode corresponds to failure, which is
described according to [2] in tests with steel bar reinforcements
for lightly reinforced slabs with higher quality concrete and
documents the full development of the membrane action.
3.2. Tests at elevated temperatures
Two slabs ELE-BE-1 and ELE-BE-2 were tested in the furnace at
elevated temperature in PAVUS laboratory in Veselí nad Lužnicí.
The mechanical loading was introduced into similar locations as by
tests by ambient temperature, see Fig. 8. The floor plates were in
this case loaded by two concrete blocks through the stiffened
rectangular rigid plates of thickness 50 mm and size 500 mm
to 500 mm. The applied load 4  6 kN represents the uniform
load 1.8 kN/m2, which is consistent with loads in a typical office
building designed for fire conditions, qk ¼qk,fi/ ηfi,t ¼ 1.8/0.6 ¼
3 kN/m2. The lower surface of the floor was heated according to
nominal standard fire curve. The behaviour of the composite slabs
was recorded by 40 thermocouples and 13 deflectometers. Thirty
117
Fig. 11. Bottom view of the slab after the test at ambient temperature, the
specimen AMB-PL-1.
Fig. 12. Crack located in the corner of the slab, the specimen ELE-BE-1.
thermocouples were integrated in the composite slab, four were
located on steel beams and six recorded the gas temperature in
the furnace. Seven deflectometers measured the vertical deflec-
tions and six measured the horizontal deflections.
In test ELE-BE-1 the cracks formed at full depth of the slab across
the shorter span in 75 min of the test. At the end of the test at
elevated temperature, final fracture of the fibre reinforced concrete
slab across the longer span occurred in the 198th minute. Displace-
ment of this slab reached the value of 300 mm, which was a tenth
of the span. Connections of the composite internal beams to edge
beams remained intact. The slabs exposed to elevated temperature
cracked first also around the corners due to the negative bending
moments, which resulted from the connection of the slab by
headed studs, see Fig. 12. During the test, both internal primary
beams buckled laterally losing its bearing resistance. Shear con-
nectors of the internal beams were suspended during the fire test
Fig. 13. The headed studs at ends of the internal beams were
fractured. The headed studs in the centre of the beams were taken
out of the slab with cone of concrete, see Fig. 14. The damage
pattern corresponds to the development of the compression and
tension regions in the slab acting as a two-way spanning mem-
brane. The recorded temperature development in the slab is shown
in Fig. 15. The figure shows that corresponding temperatures were
similar in the centre of the slab and on the edges of the slab.
118 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121

The test of the slab at elevated temperature ELE-BE-2 was Another cracks formed between the concentrated loads, following
terminated after 125 min. The integrity of the slab was maintained the directions of the secondary beams, in the cover of the headed
during the whole test. The critical crack formed in the direction of studs. All cracks can be observed in Fig. 16. The criterion of
the shorter span approximately in the middle of the longer span. isolation was reached in 59 min.

Fig. 13. Collapse of the composite slab during the fire test ELE-BE-1. Fig. 16. The test ELE-BE-2 with marked cracks on the top surface.

Fig. 14. Taking out of the stud from the slab in its centre ELE-BE-1 and disconnection of the studs on its edge.

1200
Nest A in the rib - 20 mm
Nest C in the rib - 20mm
1000 Nest A in the rib - 60 mm
Nest C in the rib - 60 mm
Nest A in the rib - surface
Nest C in the rib - surface
800
Temperature (°C)

600

400

200

0
0

15

30

45

60

75

90

105

120

135

150

165

180

195

Time (min)
Fig. 15. Comparison of the temperatures development in the composite slab, the specimen ELE-BE-1.
 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121 119

The strain at the outer surface of the slab may be estimated The limit deflection of the slab is
from the measured values and the shape during the experiment.
wlim ¼ l=30 ð7Þ
The strain of the SFRC composes of two constituent parts. The first
part arises from the temperature effects and the second part The load bearing capacity of the slab is given as
from mechanical loading. The strain may be calculated from total
deflection of the slab w as 24m
ps;Rd ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi2 ð8Þ
2  2
8w 2 l 3 þ Ll − Ll
εf c ¼ 2
ð3Þ
3l
where l is the shorter span of the composite slab. The calculated
values are summarised in Table 3. 5. Summary

The material test of SFRC demonstrated that its behaviour is

ductile enough to allow for developing a membrane action with
4. Evaluation by simple prediction model
the cracks forming at yield lines. The ductility of the SFRC at 500 1C
was higher than at 20 1C and also than that of at 600 1C. The
The simple prediction model, see [1], takes into account two
macrocracks form at the level of the maximum strength, when the
failure modes. The first one is based on the development of the
deflection is not large enough to allow for membrane action to
crack through the full depth of the slab across the shorter span in
develop. The membrane action is achieved in the decreasing part
the centre of the slab. The second model predicts cracks on the
of the force–deflection diagram. The overall resistance is to be
concrete slab in the corners in compression. The type of failure
evaluated using the stress at the level of the achieved strain, i.e. a
depends on the strength of the concrete, the degree of reinforce-
stress–strain diagram with a decrease in strength must be applied.
ment and the ductility of the steel. In the prediction model is the
The rate of decrease in the average tensile strength between
floor slab divided into four parts by yield lines, see Fig. 17. Those
20 1C and 500 1C and between 20 1C and 600 1C leads to reduction
parts of the slab are expected to be in elastic state.
factors shown in the Table 4.
The temperatures in the concrete slab were calculated by the
The collapse of the floor slab specimen ELE-BE-1 was achieved
differential method, which is recommended for its simplicity; see
after 195 min. The first crack opened in the 75th minute to 6 mm
[7]. Temperature development in the slab significantly influenced
and the continuous flames started to be visible on the top side
the fire resistance of the composite floor slab. It deteriorates
of the sample. Thus, the fire resistance R120 of the floor slab
the materials properties, but on the other hand it enhances the
predicted by simple model was exceeded. The collapse of the floor
resistance of the floor slab due to the thermal gradient, which
slab specimen ELE-BE-2 was not reached. The test was terminated
increases its deflection. The deflection may be predicted from the
after 125 min. Integrity of the slab was maintained during the
thermal gradient as
whole test.
αc ðθ2 θ1 Þl
2 The shear resistance of the SFRC is significantly higher com-
wt ¼ ð4Þ pared to that of plain concrete. The cubes of SFRC do not fail in
8 hs  2:4
shear. During the Cardington Fire Tests, residual shear resistance of
where α is the coefficient of thermal elongation; θ2 is the bottom the cracked slab under the failed shear beam to beam connections
surface temperature; θ1 is the top surface temperature; l is the was observed. The further experimental and numerical studies
shorter span of the slab, h is the depth of slab and 2.4 is the will be focused on the slab shear resistance for continuous
coefficient taking into account the distribution of the temperature solutions. The application of advanced models and its comparison
in the slab. For the homogenous temperatures in the slab in the
furnace, the coefficient was taken as 1.4. The thermocouple placed
in the Nest C on the surface failed after 125 min of the experiment.
The predicted temperature gradient is conservative, see Fig. 18.
The predicted temperatures are higher compare to measured ones
Fig. 19. The measured and calculated deflections, introduced by
thermal gradient and by external loading, are shown in Fig. 18. The
pattern of the yield line is given by the following formula
1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 
n ¼ pffiffiffi 2 3a2 μþ1−1 ð5Þ
2 μa

The deflection of the slab due to stretched fibre reinforced

concrete is given as
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
3L2
wε ¼ ð0:5εfc Þ ð6Þ Fig. 17. Dividing the floor slab by yield lines and in-plane stress distribution
8
between the elements 1 and 2.

Table 3
Experimentally observed strain at top surface of the slab during its fire loading of the slab tested in 2010.

Time Temperature at Temperature at Deflection in the l [mm] L [mm] wt [mm] wε [mm] Strain of the slab [‰]
top surface [1C] bottom surface [1C] midspan [mm]

60 109.5 542.1 151.36 3000 4500 57.9 93.4 5.17

90 236.7 740 192.39 3000 4500 67.4 125.0 9.26
120 320.9 852.6 222.07 3000 4500 71.2 150.9 13.49
120 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121

1400
Gas temperature
Nest C on the rib-20 mm (35)
Nest C on the rib-surface (37)
1200 Nominal fire curve
Calculated on the rib-20 mm
Calculated on the rib-surface
1000
Temperature (°C)

800

600

400

200

0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195
Time (min)
Fig. 18. Comparison of calculated and measured temperatures in the composite slab, test ELE-BE-1.

Time (min)
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 165 180 195
0
Recorded total deflection

Calculated deflection due

50 to temperature
Calculated tatal delection

Limit deflection
100
Deflection (mm)

150

200

250

300

350
Fig. 19. Comparison of the measured deflection and calculated limited deflection, test ELE-BE-1.

Table 4 to the presented tests and to the preparation of a design model

Measured reduction factor for tensile strength of SFRC. suitable for the SFRC slabs is the present focus and is currently in
progress.
Temperature Max tensile Reduction factor kfc Reduction factor kc,tθ
1C strength of SFRC at relative to tensile relative to tensile
macrocracking strength of SFRC strength of concrete
(MPa) at 20 1C at 20 1C, [10]
Acknowledgment
20 5.78 1.00 1.00
500 3.38 0.59 0.20
600 1.47 0.26 0.00
This outcome has been achieved with financial support of the
Grant Agency of Czech Republic No. P105/10/2159.
 J. Bednář et al. / Fire Safety Journal 59 (2013) 111–121
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