PARTIAL FIRE PROTECTION OF COMPOSITE SLABS

An international research project on fire-exposed composite structures has been conducted jointly between research institutes in the Netherl ands, France and Luxembourg. The Centre Technique Industriel de la Con struction Metallique (CTICM, France) and Arbed, Luxembourg, focus on c omposite steel-concrete beams. TNO Building and Construction Research and Delft University of Technology are concerned with composite slabs. The aim of this project is to develop simple calculation rules for fi re resistance assessment. Funding is provided by the European Coal and Steel Community. The fire resistance of continuous composite slabs ca n economically be improved by means of partial protection near interna l supports. In this paper, the results of an initial investigation are reported.