Steel structural elements are sensitive to elevated temperatures, while timber elements have good thermal insulation properties. Timber material can fulfill the role of fire protection of steel members. The effect of the protection is demonstrated on an experiment with three beams with different levels of the protection, placed into a horizontal furnace. The experimental task was also numerically analysed with standard computational approach given by the Eurocode [1, 2], which leads to an interesting comparison, as the calculation is supposed to provide higher temperatures and larger deformations compared to the experimental data.

PurposeThis paper provides a summary of the issues in the passive fire protection of steel structures. Types of passive fire protection and the material properties of protection members and steel members are described. The paper deals with the possibility of partial fire protection for secondary steel beams, in cases where, due to possible membrane action, it is not necessary to apply passive protection to the entire beams.Design/methodology/approachStudies of partially fire-protected steel structures are compared, and results from studies with different input data are summarized. A fire experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of partial passive protection in a small-scale furnace. Based on the findings of the experiment, numerical models were prepared using Ansys Mechanical.FindingsThe results are summarized, and a partial fire protection length of 500 mm is recommended. Various partial fire protection lengths were compared, and the temperature development of the steel contactors was compared using a protection length of 500 mm. At the end of the paper, options for partial passive protection of steel beams are presented.Originality/valueExtended paper from ASFE2021 based on selection.

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Material properties of steel structures are significantly reduced at high temperatures, so a fire protection has strong positive impact on the fire resistance of the structure. Fire resistance of steel elements can be increased using a layer of cement-based materials as a fire protection. Most of commonly used cement-based materials do not withstand high temperatures without noticeable reduction of mechanical properties. Hybrid cement showed some interesting properties in the way of resistance to high temperatures and adhesion to steel surfaces, thus its behavior during fire exposure should be investigated. One experimental analysis with numerical simulation is presented in this article. It examines thermal material properties of lightweight hybrid cement mortar with expanded perlite from a simple experiment with a lab gas burner.

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