Connections of Trapezoidal Sheets under Fire

Abstract

This paper describes two different experiments on connections of trapezoidal sheets under elevated temperatures. The first experiments were tensile tests carried out on four sets of tests with screwed connections under ambient and elevated temperatures. One diameter of self-drilling screws and three different thicknesses of trapezoidal sheets were used. The applied screws were without washers, or with sealed or steel washers. The second experiment was performed in a laboratory furnace to check the catenary action of a thin-walled trapezoidal sheet. The basic theory tested in this experiment was that in the first phase of the fire the sheet behaves as a simply supported beam, while in the second phase the load bearing is transferred by a tension membrane. These experiments will be used to develop a design model of connections at high temperatures. High fire resistance of the trapezoidal sheet, dependent on suitable design of the screwed connection to the bearing structure, was confirmed. The experiment with the simple beam also confirmed catenary action.