Fire performance assessment of HPLWC hollow core slabs through full-scale furnace testing

High-Performance Light-Weight Concrete has been recently used for many structural applications when it is required superior strength and low self-weight of the structural components. This can be the case of slender floor structures, like hollow core slabs, that require characteristics of lightness, relatively high resistance and superior durability. Although the fire performance of normal strength concrete hollow core slabs has been extensively studied, the behavior of high performance light-weight concrete hollow core slabs has not been suitably investigated. In this paper are reported the results of experimental investigations on the behavior of high performance light-weight concrete hollow core slabs under fire conditions. Full-scale furnace tests were performed to assess the slabs' load bearing capacity under fire conditions along with the characteristics of the thermal field. Tests were carried out on both loaded and unloaded slabs. The latter were subsequently used to assess the residual strength after fire. The numerical evaluation of the thermal field and the fire resistance was also carried out. The experimental and the numerical investigations gave insight into the fire performance of HPLWC hollow core slabs and highlighted the influence of dry curing conditions in reducing the spalling and increasing their fire resistance