Coupled CFD-FEM Simulation of Steel Box Bridge Exposed to Fire

Increasing fire-induced bridge failures are demanding more precise behavior prediction for the bridges subjected to fires. However, current numerical methods are limited to temperature curves prescribed for building structures, which can misestimate the fire impact significantly. This paper developed a framework coupling the computational dynamics (CFD) method and finite element method (FEM) to predict the performance of fire-exposed bridges. The fire combustion was simulated in CFD software, Fire Dynamic Simulator, to calculate the thermal boundary required by the thermomechanical simulation. Then, the adiabatic surface temperatures and heat transfer coefficient were applied to the FEM model of the entire bridge girder. A sequential coupled thermomechanical FEM simulation was then carried out to evaluate the performance of the fire-exposed bridge, thermally and structurally. The methodology was then validated through a real fire experiment on a steel beam. The fire performance of a simply supported steel box bridge was simulated using the proposed coupled CFD-FEM methodology. Numerical results show that the presented method was able to replicate the inhomogeneous thermomechanical response of box bridges exposed to real fires. The girder failed due to the buckling of a central diaphragm after the ignition of the investigated tanker fire in no more than 10 min. The framework presented in this study is programmatic and friendly to researchers and can be applied for the estimation of bridges in different fire conditions.