Numeric simulation of near-surface moisture migration and stress development in concrete exposed to fire

A methodology is presented for computing stresses in structural concrete members exposed to fire. Coupled heat and moisture migration simulations are used to establish temperature, pore pressure, and liquid-saturation state variables within near-surface zones of heated concrete members. Particular attention is placed on the use of coupled heat and multiphase fluid flow simulations to study phenomena such as moisture-clogging. Once the state variables are determined, a procedure for combining the effects of thermal dilation, mechanical loads, pore pressure, and boundary conditions is proposed and demonstrated. Combined stresses are computed for varying displacement boundary conditions using data obtained from coupled heat and moisture flow simulations. These stresses are then compared to stresses computed from thermal analyses in which moisture effects are omitted. The results demonstrate that moisture migration has a significant influence on the development of thermal stresses.