Temperature distribution of intumescent coated steel framed connection at elevated temperature.

A series of ten small-scale experimental works was conducted in a gas furnace. Temperatures were measured in a number of protected and unprotected steel members at various locations. This paper compares the test data against the predicted values computed by finite element analysis package, ABAQUS version 6.7. The paper considers the geometry of the members, the exposure conditions and the thermal property of the fire protection material. The thermal predictions using ABAQUS agreed well for unprotected members, however, in protected members the results were reasonable good although it did not exhibit a good match in the initial time-temperature stage. This mainly attributes to the thermal behavior of the intumescent coat.