Unbraced Composite Structures in Fire

Project Summary

Bracing of buildings is traditionally realized through concrete cores giving lateral support to composite structures, whereas in modern composite buildings un-braced frames are applied. However, current design rules in fire-related part of Eurocode 4 are limited to non-sway buildings with efficient bracing systems.

Since there are numerous advantages linked with unbraced composite structures, as enhanced flexibility concerning usable space, simple calculation methods need to be developed allowing for economic design of this structural system. The proposed development of new design tools will be based on numerical and experimental work and should be incorporated in Eurocodes for broad dissemination.

Contractors

• Institute for Steel Construction, Leibniz University Hannover (Germany)
• CTICM (France)
• City University London (United Kingdom)
• Fundación LABEIN (Spain)
• Hochtief Construction (Germany)
• FOSTA (Germany)