Prediction of the spatial occurrence of fire induced spalling in concrete slabs using random fields

Ghent University, Department of Structural Engineering, Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, Ghent, Belgium

Abstract

As the loss of concrete cover can significantly influence the reliability of concrete elements during fire, spalling should be taken into account when performing reliability calculations. However, the occurrence and spatial variation of spalling are highly uncertain. A first step towards a probabilistic analysis of spalling is made by combining existing deterministic models with a stochastic representation of the concrete tensile strength and by using random fields to model the tensile strength spatial variation.