Numerical Investigation of the Fire Behavior of Storage Rack Systems Protected by Intumescent Coating

Using a finite element strategy, this study investigates the behavior of beam-to-column connections in storage rack systems exposed to high temperatures. The purpose of this research was to develop moment-rotation (M-θ) curves after painting various structural members with varied configurations in order to evaluate the performance of intumescent-coated beams, uprights, and connectors, which are components of storage rack systems. Within the scope of this work, finite element analyses were carried out in two stages. First, thermal analyses were performed using the transient thermal analysis system of ANSYS Workbench software to estimate the ultimate temperatures of the beam, upright, and connector, which were painted with 1 mm thick paint and exposed to standard (ISO-834) fire. The results were then compared to the Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 with a satisfactory agreement. In the second stage of the analysis, a total of 9 possible alternative models were investigated in the static structural analysis system, reflecting the effect of applying fire protection to the different portions of the rack system. Since the most critical stress level is achieved around the connector tabs, it has been observed that protection of the connector in individual or binary conditions provides higher performance while protection of the beam causes divergent joint behavior. Additionally, comparison of fully protected and unprotected conditions presents an increment of more than 7% on the joint's ultimate moment capacity and initial stiffness, which is an explicit contribution of the intumescent coating to fire resistance.