Reinforced Concrete at Elevated Temperatures


Reinforced concrete structures are the most common

component in structural engineering. Engineering

experience and research achievements, improvements in manufacturing technology, and applications of new and efficient materials have led to a great deal of progress in reinforced concrete structures. The performance index is increasing continuously, structural configurations are more varied, and the scope of applications is expanding greatly. Today, reinforced concrete structures are used widely not only in various civil and public buildings, single- and multi-story industrial buildings, and high-rise and large-span buildings, but also in bridges, communication installations, and hydraulic and underground engineering. Reinforced or prestressed concrete structures are also used in special structures, e.g., TV towers, electrical transmission poles, silos, chimneys, even reactor and containment vessels in nuclear power plants, and very large hydraulic forging presses.




Generally, concrete structures work at room temperature (
and their containment structures, and hydraulic forging presses, work constantly in high temperature environments (100–500 °C). In addition, building fire accidents occasionally

occur due to natural or man-made causes. These accidents cause the structure in a building

bearing a high temperature attack to reach maximum temperatures of 1000 °C or higher within a short time (e.g., 1 h). When the concrete

structure reaches elevated temperatures, it experiences cracking, increased deformation,

and reduced strength, because of serious deterioration of material behavior and internal force redistribution of the structure. Then the structure may fail and even collapse, and this will result in significant economic losses and loss of life.


The research work related to this field is still limited in China and no corresponding design code is available for engineers. Therefore, the development requirements of construction engineering cannot be met, and research on the behavior of concrete materials and structures at elevated temperatures has become an important and urgent task.


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