Effect of upgrading concrete strength class on fire performance of reinforced concrete columns

High strength concrete (HSC) provides several advantages over normal strength concrete (NSC) and is being used in multi-story buildings for reducing the dimensions of the columns sections and increasing the net marketable area. However, upgrading of concrete strength class in a building may affect the fire performance, due to higher rates of strength loss with temperature and higher susceptibility to spalling of HSC compared with NSC. Reduction of columns sections also leads to increased member slenderness and faster temperature increase in the section core. These detrimental effects are well known, but their impact on fire performance of structures has not been established in terms of comparative advantage between NSC and HSC. In other words, it is not clear whether the consideration of fire resistance limits the opportunities for use of HSC for reducing the dimensions of columns sections in multi-story buildings. This research aims to address this question by comparing the fire behaviour of reinforced concrete columns made of NSC and HSC using nonlinear finite element modelling. The evolution of load bearing capacity of the columns is established as a function of the fire exposure duration. A 15-story car park structure is adopted as a case study with alternative designs for the columns based on strength classes ranging from C30 to C90. Results show that, although the replacement of NSC by HSC accelerates the reduction rate of columns capacity under fire, the columns generally have significant reserves in resistance leading to sufficient fire resistance. This study gives an insight into the impact of replacing stocky sections in NSC by more slender sections in HSC on fire resistance rating for multi-story structures.