Quantitative assessment of structural fire endurance of concrete and shotcrete tunnel liners


Caner A., Zlatanic S., Munfah N.

2005 ITA-AITES World Tunnel Congress and 31st General Assembly, İstanbul, Turkey, 7 - 12 May 2005, vol.1, pp.585-590 identifier

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Full Text
  • Volume: 1
  • Doi Number: 10.1201/noe0415374521.ch89
  • City: İstanbul
  • Country: Turkey
  • Page Numbers: pp.585-590
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Tunnel fires can result in human casualties, structural damage, service disruptions and financial loss. Tunnel liners made of concrete or shotcrete can explosively spall at fires with high heat release rates and temperatures, and heat release rates are typically more severe in tunnel fires than in building fires. In the past, structural fire performance studies for concrete members focused mainly on buildings; not much work has been done regarding tunnels. This paper discusses an analytical method to quantify the structural fire safety of the concrete or shotcrete tunnel liners for a defined fire event. The proposed analysis for quantifying demand and capacity of the tunnel liners during a fire combines a heat transfer analysis and a non-linear structural analysis that includes type of fire, concrete mix design, temperature-induced material degradation and ground-tunnel liner interaction. It concludes by recommending methods to minimize fire damage. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group.