Material characteristics in the analysis of heated steel beams

Beam fire tests are expensive and complicated. They may be replaced by calculations of the heated beam deflection by means of the method presented in this paper. The following material characteristics in the analysis of the deflection of beams during fire may be taken as fundamental: the steel creep characteristic at elevated temperatures, the modulus of elasticity and the coefficient of thermal expansion. According to the yield hinge theory, the yield stress is the criterion of failure of steel beams in fire. On the other hand, in the analysis of the deflection of the heated steel beams the influence of the yield stress is very small. The influence of the respective material characteristics on the heated steel beam's destruction is shown in this paper.