Numerical analysis on the behaviour of concrete masonry walls subjected to fire

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical study on the structural behaviour of concrete masonry at elevated temperatures. Based on an experimental research previously performed on half-scale walls in fire situations, numerical models were developed and validated. The heat transfer models led to thermal fields with good agreement with the temperatures measured by thermocouples installed in the wall, a bigger scatter of temperatures was found in the experimental research. The mechanical analysis led to vertical and out-of-plane displacements in good agreement with the displacements measured by LVDTs. The numerical model was validated and will be used in future researches to perform parametric studies.