N°208. 1991. Fire Design of Concrete Structures in accordance with CEB-FIP Model Code 90.

When, at the end of 1982, CEB General Task Group No. 4 (Fire Design of Concrete Structures) was established, its task was to continue the work already carried out by the FIP Commission on Fire Resistance and to present a Guide for the Fire Design of Concrete Structures.

In recent years, the work carried out by this group has been documented in CEB Bulletins d’Information No. 145 and No. 174. Although referred to as Draft Model Codes for Fire Design of Concrete Structures, these documents—as well as the present final version—have always provided more background information than is normally required for a Model Code. This was considered appropriate, since the background of fire design cannot generally be regarded as common knowledge for practising engineers. Therefore, the present document should not be seen as an appendix to the CEB-FIP MC90, but as a separate document based on the design principles of MC90.

In comparison with Eurocode No. 2, Part 1.2 (Structural Fire Design), where compromises had to be made in order to reach common agreement, the Group found it necessary to highlight different approaches, especially regarding the description of material properties, in order to show that a final state of the art has not yet been fully achieved. Nevertheless, the design aids provided here are sufficient to solve most engineering problems in this field.

With respect to recent developments in structural safety, now part of MC90, the document has been expanded to provide guidance in the development of partial safety factors and to justify the recommendations made herein.

In order to reflect progress in direct fire design, it was considered necessary to extend the relevant chapter, and a new chapter containing recommendations for the repair of fire-damaged structures has been added.