Doctoral Degrees (Civil Engineering)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Civil Engineering) by browse.metadata.advisor "Cicione, Antonio"

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    Experimental testing and numerical modelling of a large-scale modular cellular structural steel and composite sandwich decking flooring system in fire
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Claasen, Jaleel Joseph; Walls, Richard Shaun; Cicione, Antonio; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Civil Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Southern African Institute of Steel Construction (SAISC) has determined that the current office building market segment within the South African construction industry does not satisfy the performance requirements of the public, developers, and tenants. Through consultation with industry leaders, the SAISC were able to establish the specific performance criteria required for the design, construction, and operation of future office buildings. With the established performance requirements in mind, the SAISC have developed a cellular beam modular access floor office building system (CBS system) which is able to satisfy all criteria. The system consists of two interdependent components: (1) the building system's structural components, which include horizontal cellular beam sections and vertical columns; and (2) the profiled steel sandwiched decking flooring system (SD system), which is attached to the bottoms of the horizontal structural members. The system involves no wet work, with the intention of having a building system that could be assembled in modules off-site, transported on a truck, and erected quickly and safely on-site in a multitude of possible configurations to allow for architectural freedom while standardizing the modules. However, the lightweight nature of the system and flooring system implemented in the CBS design has put the fire resistance of the system in question. This dissertation forms part of a larger study conducted to experimentally and numerically quantify the fire rating for the CBS system. An extensive experimental programme was carried out as part of this work, ranging from small-scale materials tests to medium-scale four point bending tests of the flooring system and large-scale standard fire tests. The main experimental test performed was a large-scale standard fire test of an experimental frame (spanning 5.66 m and 3.64 m wide) built according to the design aspects of the CBS system. The results from the test were positive as the structure was able to maintain load bearing capacity throughout the entire duration of the test, with no major structural failure occurring. Furthermore, the horizontal structural elements deflections were well within the specified limits for fire design, and the flooring system nearly achieving the required 1 hour fire rating with regards to the insulation fire limit state criteria. Using the data obtained from the experimental programme, and through the use of the Finite Element Method, numerous experimental models were developed to analyse the thermomechanical response of the CBS system, and the flexural and thermal performance of the flooring system to be implemented in the CBS design. The numerical models were able to successfully predict the thermal behaviour of the flooring system and the thermal-stress performance of the horizontal structural elements of the experimental frame tested in the large- scale standard fire test.