Fire Protection in Steel Structures

Using steel in multi story buildings and important structures such as bridges, airports, and industrial fields is more common than using concrete structures. Steel has great advantages compared to concrete. Some advantages are fast installation, lightweight, and the small size of the beams and columns. However, the big disadvantage of steel structures is that steel is weak against fire. Steel looses almost half of its strength at the temperature of 1020 Fahrenheit. Therefore, steel structures need to have some sort of fire protection to save many lives and prevent fire disasters. For residential buildings, the height of structure, and the number of units pay an important role in fire resistance requirements. In commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, shopping centers, and similar places where the number of people is higher, fire protection is more life concerning, and must be considered. Analysis of model building s behavior in fire condition and the reaction of real structures towards fire help engineers to understand how fire resistance materials prevent failure of structure. All these aspects and concerns are considered to improve the fire resistance and to prevent disasters in our daily lives. This paper mentions most common active and passive fire protection methods and what types are more effective and reasonable than others. Also, this paper describes the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.