Enhancing fire resistance of steel bridges through composite action

Bridge fire hazard has become a growing concern over the last decade due to the rapid increase of ground transportation of hazardous materials and resulting fire incidents. The lack of fire safety provisions in steel bridges can be a significant issue owing steel thermal properties that lead to fast degradation of steel properties at elevated temperatures. Alternatively, the development of composite action between steel girders and concrete decks can increase the fire resistance of steel bridges and meet fire safety requirements in some applications. This paper reviews the fire problem in steel bridges and the fire behavior of composite steel-concrete bridge girders. A numerical model is developed to trace the fire response of a typical bridge girder and is validated using measurements from fire tests. The selected bridge girder is composed by a hot rolled steel section strengthened with bearing stiffeners at midspan and supports. A concrete slab sitting on the top of the girder is connected to the slab through shear studs to provide full composite action. The validated numerical model was used to investigate the fire resistance of real scale bridge girders and the effect of the composite action under different scenarios (standard and hydrocarbon fires). Results showed that composite action can significantly increase the fire resistance of steel bridge girders. Besides, fire severity played an important role in the fire behavior of composite girders and both factors should be taken into consideration in the design of steel bridges for fire safety.