Post-earthquake fire resistance of bolted end-plate connection joint with end-plate and web stiffeners

This paper aims to study the fire resistance of the extended end-plate connection (EEPC) joints under post-earthquake fire (PEF) by considering different earthquake damages, which can reduce the fire resistance of the EEPC-joints. The effectiveness and accuracy of the computation models were verified by using the existing test results. Then, the fire resistance of 8 kinds of the EEPC-joints with different stiffening strategies were compared and analyzed. The results showed that the extended end-plate connection with pentagon end-plate stiffeners and web stiffeners had the best fire resistance and was selected to conduct a parametric analysis under PEF. In order to investigate the effects of different parameters on the fire resistance of the EEPC-joints under PEF, 25 computational models of the extended end-plate connections with pentagon end-plate stiffeners and web stiffeners were established. Then, a parametric study was performed by considering the column flange width-thickness ratio (α), beam web height-thickness ratio (β), ratio of beam end-plate stiffener thickness to beam end-plate thickness (γ), ratio of the thickness of column web stiffeners to the thickness of the column end-plate (λ), ratio of the thickness of beam end-plate to column end-plate (ξ), the thickness of non-intumescent fire retardant coating and damage variable (D~). The results showed that damage variables had significant influence on the fire resistance of the EEPC-joints under PEF. The findings of this study can provide the needed reference for fire resistance design of the EEPC-joints under PEF.