Flexural buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns

In order to study buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns, a finite element model is developed. The results of this model are verified with experiments. Based on a parametric study with the finite element model, it is concluded that the simple calculation model for flexural buckling of fire exposed aluminium columns in EN 1999-1-2 does not give an accurate prediction of the buckling resistance in fire. This paper proposes an alternative design model, which takes into account the shape of the stress-strain relationships of aluminium alloys at elevated temperatures. Predictions of this model agree well with that of the finite element model. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.