Numerical modelling of the fire resistance of double sheared steel-to-timber connections

In this study the behaviour of double sheared doweled connections was analysed, regarding the temporal changes in fire performance. Based on literature of special features of fire performance of timber and timber connections, a timber-steel-timber connection was used with dowels and bolts in the analysis. A natural fire model was created with the OZone V2.0 software based on a real fire case and the relevant factors of the fire were defined. The thermal changes in the properties of the materials were also considered with the formulas and given parameters from the Eurocode. The initial parameters of the connection were designed with calculation methods and detailing rules given in the Eurocodes and the performance was checked under tension and fire loads. With these parameters, a finite element model (FEM) was built with the Ansys software and the manually calculated results were compared with the FEM results. As a last phase some input parameters were modified and their influence on the results was checked. Based on the analysis the effect of the applied fire curve, the width of the timber cross-section and the diameter of the fasteners were evaluated.