MC Magazine Archive

Fire-Resistant Concrete

Ingredients and product design will determine how well

concrete stands up to intense heat.

By Armand H. Gustaferro, P.E.

Most experts agree that the World Trade Center towers

would not have collapsed if there had been no fires.
That fact has generated a renewed interest in the effects
of fire on various materials such as concrete.

At the high temperatures experienced in fires, hydrated

cement in concrete gradually dehydrates, reverting back
to water (actually steam) and cement. This results in a
reduction of strength and modulus of elasticity
(stiffness) of concrete. In some fires, spalling of
concrete occurs - fragments of concrete break loose
from the rest of the concrete, sometimes violently. This
article addresses questions that manufacturers of precast
concrete have regarding fire resistance and fire ratings
of precast concrete products. Most fire-resistance rating
requirements are dictated by building codes, depending
on the type of building and its occupancy.

Ratings are given in hours. For example, the required

fire-resistance ratings for columns in high-rise hospitals
are much more stringent than those for single-story
buildings used for storage of noncombustible products
or materials. In the highrise hospital the columns might
need a four-hour rating, whereas in the single story
building exterior walls may need only a one-hour
rating. In other cases, fire resistance ratings are
specified by owners.

For example, a utility company may require that its

vaults have two-hour ratings even though the building
code may be silent on requirements for such structures.

What products need fire ratings?

A fire rating, or more correctly "fire resistance rating"
as used in building codes, has a specific technical
meaning (as discussed later). "Fire resistance" is a
descriptive term meaning the ability to withstand fire or
to give protection from fire.

Certain precast concrete products such as wall panels,

floor slabs or complete small buildings may require fire
ratings depending on the types of structures and their
occupancies, and sometimes on their locations relative
to other structures or property lines. Certain other
precast products such as risers in stadiums or portions
of prison buildings may also need fire resistance
ratings. Most other products such as manholes, drainage
structures, median barriers, septic tanks and park
furniture need not be fire resistant but may be required
to be noncombustible.

One of the advantages of concrete is that it is

noncombustible - it neither burns nor supports
combustion, so it can be used wherever noncombustible
construction is permitted.

What products might not need fire ratings but should be

fire resistive?
Precast concrete products that might be subjected to
repeated fires or to very hot accidental fires should be
made as fire resistive as possible. For example, some
cities provide short manhole sections at beaches so that
cooking fires or camp fires can be made within the
manhole sections by users of the beach. Making such
manholes highly fire resistant is a real challenge. Unless
properly made and conditioned, they are liable to spall
violently the first time they are used.

Fires sometime occur in electrical transformers. Such

fires are extremely hot - sometimes hot enough to melt
siliceous aggregates. Precast transformer vaults should
be capable of withstanding such fires without
collapsing.

What does fire rating mean?

As defined in the 2000 edition of the International
Building Code (IBC-2000), "fire resistance rating"
means "the period of time a building or building
component maintains the ability to confine a fire or
continues to perform a given structural function or both,
as determined by tests prescribed in Section 703." For
walls, floors, roofs, columns and beams, tests referred
to are the standard fire test, ASTM E119, "Fire Tests of
Building Construction Materials." That standard
requires that the specimen to be tested be at least a
certain size, unless the actual size is smaller than the
minimum specified.

During a fire test, the specimen must generally support

its maximum superimposed load as permitted by
national standards. The specimen is then exposed to a
standard fire. Walls are exposed to fire on one side,
floor or roof specimens from the underside, beams from
the underside and two sides, and columns from all
sides. The fire must be of a certain intensity as defined
by a time-temperature relationship - 1,000 degrees F at
five minutes, 1,550 F at 30 minutes, 1,700 F at one
hour, 1,850 at two hours and 2,000 F at four hours.

To comply with ASTM E119, walls must be large

enough so that at least 100 square feet is exposed to fire
with neither dimension less than 9 feet; at least 180
square feet of a floor or roof must be exposed to fire
and neither dimension can be less than 12 feet. Columns
must have at least 9 feet in height exposed to fire and
beams 12 feet in length.

The test is continued until an "end point" is reached. A

"structural" end point occurs if the specimen collapses.
A "flame passage" end point occurs in walls, floors or
roofs if a hole or crack occurs that is large enough to
allow hot gases from the fire to reach the other side. A
"heat transmission" end point occurs for walls, floors or
roofs if the average temperature of the surface not
exposed to fire increases by 250 F or if the temperature
at any one point rises to 325 F. For concrete specimens,
this latter criterion almost always governs; that is, the
structural or flame passage end points seldom occur.
There are other criteria for end points, but those are not
critical for precast concrete products unless they are
prestressed.

Standard fire tests are quite expensive to perform, and

few facilities are equipped to perform such tests. As an
alternative to fire testing, IBC-2000 allows the use of
tabulated data included in the code as discussed later in
this article.

What characteristics influence fire resistance?

Fire resistance of concrete is influenced by aggregate
type, moisture content, density, permeability and
thickness. Limestone, dolomite and limerock are called
"carbonate" aggregates because they consist of calcium
or magnesium carbonate or combinations of the two.
During exposure to fire, these aggregates calcine -
carbon dioxide is driven off and calcium (or
magnesium) oxide remains. Since calcining requires
heat, the reaction absorbs some of the fire's heat. The
reaction begins at the fire-exposed surface and slowly
progresses toward the opposite face. The result is that
carbonate aggregates behave somewhat better than
other normal-weight aggregates in a fire.

Moisture content has a complex influence on concrete's

behavior in fire. Concrete that has not been allowed to
dry may spall, particularly if the concrete is highly
impermeable, such as concretes made with silica fume
or latex, or if it has an extremely low water-cement
ratio. Concretes that are more permeable will generally
perform satisfactorily, particularly if they are partially
dry.

In general, concretes with lower unit weights (densities)

will behave better in fire; dried lightweight concrete
performs better in fire than normal-weight concrete.
The thicker or more massive the concrete, the better its
behavior when exposed to fire.

How are fire ratings achieved?

As previously indicated, IBC-2000 allows various
methods for achieving fire-resistance ratings. A fire test
of a particular building component is an obvious
method. Alternatively, prescriptive designs as listed in
the code may be used, or calculations done in
accordance with the procedures given in the code are
permitted. Although the "calculations" section in the
code includes a few formulas, most of the data is
tabulated in easy-to-use form and is based on results of
standard (ASTM E119) fire tests.

As an example, Table 1 presents the data from Table

720.2.1.1 of IBC-2000 for the minimum thickness of
cast-in-place or precast walls for various fire resistance
ratings. The data are identical to the minimum thickness
of floor slabs given in Table 720.2.2.1 because the
values are based on the heat transmission end-point
criterion.

Table 1

Minimum slab thickness for fire resistance rating of:

Concrete 1 1.5 2 3 4
Type hour hours hours hours hours
Siliceous 3.5 4.3 5.0 6.2 7.0
Carbonate 3.2 4.0 4.5 5.7 6.6
Sand-
2.7 3.3 3.8 4.6 5.4
Lightweight
Lightweight 2.5 3.1 3.6 4.4 5.1

As noted above, carbonate refers to coarse aggregates

of limestone, dolomite or limerock - those consisting of
calcium or magnesium carbonate. Siliceous refers to
most other normal-weight aggregates. Sand-lightweight
refers to concretes made with normal-weight sand and
lightweight coarse aggregate and generally weighing
between 105 and 120 pounds per cubic foot.
Lightweight refers to concrete made with lightweight
coarse and fine aggregates and weighing between 85
and 115 pcf.

For those interested in more detailed information, the

following references are recommended.

References
"Design for Fire Resistance of Precast Prestressed
Concrete," MNL-124-89, Precast Prestressed Concrete
Institute, Chicago, IL.

"Reinforced Concrete Fire Resistance," Concrete

Reinforcing Steel Institute, Schaumburg, IL.

"International Building Code 2000," International Code

Council, Falls Church, VA.