Economic analysis of Stainless Steel- Reinforced Concrete members designed for a Fire Resistance of 2 hours

While Stainless steel is used primarily for its corrosion resistance, there is a growing interest in other properties, such as mechanical, high temperature resistance, aesthetics and others.
The properties at high temperatures (400 – 650°C ) of stainless steels are known and put to use in a number of applications such as steam turbines and equipment for the chemical industry. Some research on the fire resistance of stainless steels has been carried out for welded I beams and for concrete-filled tubes, with positive results. However, there are no published results on the behavior of concrete reinforced with stainless steel rebar.
In a preliminary research program conducted by the University of Liege for ISSF, a preliminary
assessment of the performance of stainless steel reinforced concrete has been carried out, using
computer simulation methods. This preliminary study has shown that stainless steel reinforced
concrete members can behave better than carbon steel reinforced concrete members in fire situation.
However, an economic analysis is still needed to determine whether stainless steel reinforcement can be interesting for practical applications.
This report is divided in two parts. The first part presents the assumptions and the results of the
numerical simulations performed by University of Liege. The numerical simulations aim to design
stainless and carbon steel -reinforced concrete members satisfying to a fire resistance of 2 hours
(Standard fire conditions). The two structural members considered in this study are a reinforced
concrete beam and a composite slab (with the so-called « membrane » behavior). The numerical
simulations are performed with the SAFIR 20011.a.3 software developed in University of Liege.
The second part presents the assumptions and the results of the economic analysis of the structural members designed in the first part. The stainless and carbon steel –reinforced solutions for a fire resistance of 2 hours are compared on an economic basis.