Membranwirkung von Verbunddecken bei Brand - Stand der Technik

Composite slabs exposed to fire can support loads considerably greater than those calculated using classical design procedures. This is due to the change of the load carrying mechanism from flexural bending at ambient temperature to tensile membrane action in fire. However, this mechanism cannot be simply adopted in the Germany design rules. According to the building regulations all the steel beams have to be protected against fire although it is often not necessary in order to support the loads. In Great Britain tensile membrane action is already used with a design method developed by Bailey [1]. It is a practicable method especially for simple constructions where high calculation effort is uneconomical. Nevertheless, further research is necessary to adopt the method in Germany.