Combined Experimental and Simulation Study on the Post-Fire Performance of RC Columns

Cherif Guergah; Malek Hamda; Mohammed Baghdadi; Abdelaziz Benmarce

doi:10.2478/cee-2026-0018

.blurhash-client-img { display: none !important; }

Combined Experimental and Simulation Study on the Post-Fire Performance of RC Columns

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Volume 22 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

By: Cherif Guergah, Malek Hamda, Mohammed Baghdadi and Abdelaziz Benmarce

Open Access

|Jun 2026

Figures & Tables

Behavior of materials exposed to fire. (a) Evolution of strength as a function of temperature [T°]. (b) Behavior of concrete after cooling

Thermal treatment curve of the column: heating – stabilization – cooling

Evolution of temperature distribution during heating phase

Evolution of Temperature Distribution During Cooling Phase

Evolution of the load and applied temperature

Evolution [Nr] of the column as a function of temperature

Influence of Column Height on Residual Load-Bearing Capacity [Nr]

Evolution of [Nr/N20] as a function of column section and temperature

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of support conditions

Variation of Bearing Capacity for Different Concrete Mixes

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 250 °C

		Max T [°C] after 60 min End of warm-up phase				Max [°C] after 120 min End of stabilization phase				Max T [°C] after 940 min End of cooling phase phase
		HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS
14	Corner	186.7	188.0	187.6	188.1	228.0	228.7	228.6	228.8	29.1	28.5	28.3	28.5
79	bars	80.4	82.1	82.8	82.3	150.3	152.5	153.3	152.7	33.4	32.5	32.2	32.5
126	Exposed face	137.0	138.3	138.7	138.4	192.0	193.4	193.9	193.5	32	31.2	30.9	31.2
239	Centre-section	22.2	22.6	22.8	22.7	51.1	54.1	55.1	54.3	39.6	38.3	37.8	38.3
27	Fiber in corner	145.6	147.5	146.1	147.6	208.8	210.1	209.4	210.2		29.7	49.4	29.7
20	Fiber in face	108.7	110.4	109.7	110.5	172.7	174.7	174.2	174.8		31.9	31.6	31.9
118	Fiber in center	48.1	49.9	50.5	50.0	105.0	107.2	108.0	168.8		34.8	34.4	34.8

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of column section dimensions

H	30×30 [cm²]		40×40 [cm²]
Nr	N20	Nr/N20	N20	Nr/N20
N20	10621.88	1.00	18751.88	1.00
N250	7840.00	0.74	14190.00	0.76
N450	6535.00	0.62	12125.00	0.65
N650	4130.00	0.39	9200.00	0.49

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of support conditions

	Double support and single support		Triple support and single support
Nr	N20	Nr/N20	N20	Nr/N20
N20	10621.88	1.00	10833.75	1.00
N250	7840.00	0.74	8040.00	0.74
N450	6535.00	0.62	6725.00	0.62
N650	4130.00	0.39	4460.00	0.41

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of column height [m] and Temperature [°C]

H	3m		4m		5m
Nr	N20	Nr/N20	N20	Nr/N20	N20	Nr/N20
N20	10621.88	1.00	10336.88	1.00	9436.88	1.00
N250	7840.00	0.74	7560.50	0.73	6780.50	0.72
N450	6535.00	0.62	6160.00	0.60	5315.00	0.56
N650	4130.00	0.39	3450.00	0.33	2885.00	0.31

Effect of concrete mix types on residual strength

	HPCFS		HPCPFS		HPCDPFS
	N20 [kN]	Nr/N20 [-]	N20 [kN]	Nr/N20 [-]	N20 [kN]	Nr/N20 [-]
N20 [°C]	10621.88	1.00	9965.5	1.00	8791.87	1.00
N250 [°C]	7840	0.74	7448	0.75	6750	0.77
N450 [°C]	6535	0.62	6115	0.61	6227	0.71
N650 [°C]	4130	0.39	3840	0.39	5040	0.57

Characteristics of the HPC Mix (Hamda et al_, 2025)

Concrete Type	Density [kg/m³]	Compressive Strength [MPa]
HPCFS	2583.8	113.5
HPCPFS	2460.9	105.92
HPCDPFS	2425.8	92.12
HPCPFSQS	2455.9	95.17

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 450°C

		Max T [°C] after 60 min (End of warm-up phase)				Max T [°C] after 120 min (End of stabilization phase)				Max T [°C] after 940 min (End of cooling phase) phase)
		HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS
14	Corner	395.4	397.4	398.0	397.4	438.3	438.8	439.0	438.8	35.5	34.5	34.2	34.5
79	bars	128.9	132.1	133.2	132.1	295.0	299.4	300.9	299.4	45	43.4	42.9	43.4
126	Exposed face	291.8	294.9	295.9	294.9	392.9	394.8	395.5	394.8	41.7	40.3	39.9	40.3
239	Centre-section	24.2	25.1	25.4	25.1	73.1	77.4	78.9	77.4	58.7	56.2	55.4	56.2
27	Fiber in corner	-	308.5	309.7	308.5	-	410.3	410.8	410.3		37.1	36.7	37.1
20	Fiber in face	-	215.1	216.3	215.1	-	352.7	353.8	352.7		42	41.5	42
118	Fiber in center	-	72.6	73.4	72.6	-	193.9	195.8	193.9		48.5	47.9	48.5

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 650°C

		Max T [°C] after 60 min (End of warm-up phase)				Max T [°C] after 120 min (End of stabilization phase)				Max T [°C] after 940 min (End of cooling phase) phase)
		HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS	HPC FS	HPC PFS	HPC DPFS	HPC PFSQS
14	Corner	623.2	624.5	624.8	624.6	645.7	646.0	646.0	646.0	52	50.4	49.9	50.4
79	bars	197.7	203.4	205.3	203.8	566.9	444.1	446.1	444.5	79.1	76.3	75.3	76.3
126	Exposed face	512.6	516.4	517.7	516.7	608.3	609.8	610.3	609.9	68.9	66.5	95.4	66.5
239	Centre section	26.2	27.4	27.8	27.5	90.9	95.3	96.6	95.6	120.3	115.2	113.5	115.2
27	fiber in corner	-	493.3	494.7	493.7	-	612.2	612.6	612.3		57.8	57.2	57.8
20	fiber in face	-	358.6	360.5	359.1	-	537.8	538.9	538.1		71.5	70.7	71.5
118	fiber in center	-	93.6	94.6	93.8	-	285.4	288.2	286.1		91.5	90.2	91.5

References

Authors

Metrics

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cee-2026-0018 | Journal eISSN: 2199-6512 | Journal ISSN: 1336-5835

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 500 - 517

Submitted on: Jul 30, 2025

Accepted on: Sep 16, 2025

Published on: Jun 19, 2026

Published by: University of Žilina

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

Reinforced concrete columns,

Cooling phase,

Residual strength,

High-performance fiber-reinforced concrete,

Residual load-bearing capacity

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Political economics,

Economic theory, systems and structures,

Business management,

Industries,

Environmental management

© 2026 Cherif Guergah, Malek Hamda, Mohammed Baghdadi, Abdelaziz Benmarce, published by University of Žilina
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 22 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)

Combined Experimental and Simulation Study on the Post-Fire Performance of RC Columns

Figures & Tables

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Figure 3:

Figure 4:

Figure 5:

Figure 6:

Figure 7:

Figure 8:

Figure 9:

Figure 10:

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 250 °C

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of column section dimensions

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of support conditions

Evolution of bearing capacity as a function of column height [m] and Temperature [°C]

Effect of concrete mix types on residual strength

Characteristics of the HPC Mix (Hamda et al_, 2025)

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 450°C

Temperature distribution at selected points in the column section at 650°C

Paradigm

My account