Real‐scale experimental analysis on the continuity effect of steel‐concrete composite slabs subjected to fire conditions: state‐of‐the‐art

Composite slabs are common solutions in steel structures. The profiled steel sheeting of the steel deck can remove the need for positive reinforcement. However, due to the slenderness of these sheets and their fragility at high temperatures, the occurrence of fires can undermine the safety of the structural system. In many cases, positive reinforcements have been added to increase resistance to fire. It is known that negative reinforcements have better thermal protection than positive ones and generate structural continuity to the slabs, increasing their negative bending moment while reducing the positive one. These factors result in greater effectiveness of the negative reinforcement when compared to the positive one, despite the scarcity of studies in this regard, which makes the subject incipient. This paper presents a state‐ of‐the‐art analysis on the continuity effect of composite slabs subjected to fire conditions by means of real scale experiments.