Continuous Real-Time Hybrid Simulation Method for Structures Subject to Fire

Abstract

The continuous hybrid fire-simulation method proposed in this paper is a robust method that allows numerical models with a certain level of complexity to be used in a real-time hybrid fire simulation. Extrapolation and interpolation are used for continuously generating displacement commands during the simulation. The elastic deformation of the loading frame is compensated for during the continuous command generation. The stability issues relating to the stiffness of the loading system and the proposed error-compensation scheme are discussed in depth. A large-scale hybrid fire simulation was carried out to validate the proposed method. A steel moment-resisting frame with reduced beam section connections was selected for the validation test. One column of the selected structure was physically represented in the lab, and the rest of the structure was modeled numerically. The physical specimen was heated with a standard fire curve, with the temperature in the numerical model increasing following the numerical heat-transfer analysis result. A multiresolution numerical model was used as the numerical substructure. The test results confirmed the proposed method can accurately simulate the behavior of a structure subjected to high temperature and subsequent failure.