Performance of intumescent fire protection coatings applied to structural steel tension members with circular solid and hollow sections

Intumescent fire protection coatings are used to improve the fire resistance of steel members. Due to slender cross-sections typically used for tension members, high demands are placed on the effectiveness and reliability of the intumescent coatings. This paper describes real-scale fire tests of intumescent coatings applied to steel tension members with circular solid and hollow sections. First, the current regulations for the application of intumescent coatings on steel tension members are discussed. After that, a comparison between the foaming behaviour and failure mechanisms of intumescent coatings applied to steel tension members with different cross-sections and loading conditions is given. Next, the experimental setup and procedure of the performed fire tests are presented. In addition, the influences of various parameters on the performance of the intumescent coating are analysed, including the geometry of the steel profile, dry film thickness of the intumescent coating, load utilisation level as well as the orientation of the member. Based on the theoretical considerations and results of the fire tests, it is evidenced that mechanically loaded fire tests are essential to assess accurately the contribution of intumescent fire protection coatings to the fire resistance of steel tension members with circular solid sections.