Numerical study of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Reinforced Normal Strength Concrete (FRPNSC) under hydrocarbon fire

Main safety requirements in concrete structural are the fire resistance requirements. One of the structural components is Fiber Reinforced Polymer Reinforced Normal Strength Concrete (FRPNSC). FRP reinforcement has been used as the replacement for conventional steel due to anti-corrosion and lightweight characteristics. Severe degradation on chemical bond properties for FRP will be effected when the temperature is rises. It is important to understand the minimum concrete cover thickness and concrete aggregates types to achieve fire resistance requirements. Standard fire equations are commonly used for fire simulations study. However, studies with hydrocarbon (HC) fire equations which fire ignited from petrochemical are limited. Therefore, in order to study the fire resistance of FRPNSC under hydrocarbon fire, temperature at the reinforcement needs to be predicted. In this study, explicit finite difference method (EFDM) used to solve the heat transfer model. The numerical algorithm of EFDM heat transfer model was constructed and used to analyse the concrete thickness and aggregates to achieve fire resistance requirement. The temperature result obtained by the EFDM model successfully validated with test data. FRPNSC under HC for carbonate aggregates give significant effect on the fire resistance compared to standard fire. The carbonate aggregates types also shows better fire performances compared to lightweight aggregates.