Critical temperature calculation for steel members

SOFiSTiK
1

Hi

Is it possible to calculate the critical temperature of a steel beam or column in a fire situation according to EN 1993-1-2 using SOFiSTiK? If yes, which SOFiSTiK modules are required for that?

With best regards

Martin

2

This is for steel beams:

For columns you can use the task “Column Design” or “Column Design Assistant”

3

Hi

Thank you for the response.

Currently I do not have HYDRA module so I couldn’t test it, but I read the manual. It seems to me that Hydra is used to calculate the exact temperature distribution within the cross section which is then used in AQUA and AQB to determine the load bearing capacity of the cross section. However, I couldn’t find anything about determining the critical temperature.

By definition critical temperature according to EN 1993-1-2 is:

  • For a given load level, the temperature at which failure is expected to occur in a structural steel element for a uniform temperature distribution.

So exact temperature distribution is not important because critical temperature is calculated assuming uniform temperature for the whole cross-section. In AQB and BDK (stability must also be considered) module I couldn’t find any built in functionality for calculating critical temperature.

If there is no built in functionality then I could use the following workaround:

  • Create a loop where material properties are changed according to EN 1993-1-2 at different preset temperature levels
  • Use AQB and BDK to calculate utilization level within the loop
  • Determine at which temperature the utilization is close to 1.0

However, this is not a feasible workflow for a bigger calculation model with hundreds of columns. If anyone has a better idea then please let me know.

With best regards

Martin

4

Hi,

you need HYDRA. This uniform temperature approach is not implemented as far as I know. Your workaround could work