Calculation of temperature in fire-exposed bare steel structures: Comparison between ENV 1993-1-2 and EN 1993-1-2

A comparison is made between the formula presented in ENV 1993-1-2 and EN 1993-1-2 for calculating temperature in bare steel structures subjected to fire. The ratio between the radiative energy considered in each formula is first calculated for 377 commercially available sections. The evolution of the steel temperature is then calculated in 4 different representative sections. On the basis of these comparisons and taking into account the fact that the load-bearing capacity has to be ensured in steel members, it does not appear that significant modifications in the safety level have been introduced from the ENV to the EN version of Eurocode 3. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.