The thesis discusses the behaviour of a curved and tapered timber beam exposed to fire. For this purpose a
new three-phase numerical model for the geometrical and material non-linear fire analysis is developed.
In the first phase, the development of the gas temperature with time, within the fire compartment is
determined. New mathematical and numerical model to determine the coupled heat and moisture transfer
in timber exposed to fire is introduced in the second phase. The model accounts for the transfer of
bound water, water vapour and air, coupled with the heat transfer. The main novelties of the model
are: (i) the bound water transfer is refined by including the Soret e�ect, (ii) a modified description of
sorption applicable for the temperatures above the boiling point of water is given, (iii) a moving boundary
surface to prescribe water vapour flux and pressure at the contact between the unburned timber and the
char layer is introduced. The system of governing di�erential equations is solved by the finite element
method developed in the Matlab® environment. The basic unknowns of the model are: the temperature,
the gas pressure, the water vapour and the bound water concentration. After validating the model and
conducting parametric studies, the following conclusions can be given: (i) the model accurately predicts
both the temperature field and the charring depth, (ii) the higher initial moisture content results in a slower
development of temperatures, (iii) a significant e�ect of bound water di�usion on the total moisture
content is shown and (iv) the influence of the convective heat transfer on the temperature distribution is
negligible. In the third phase, a mechanical model to determine the stress–strain state of a curved and
tapered timber beam exposed to fire is presented. The Reissner geometrically exact planar beam model is
employed. Membrane, shear and flexural deformations of the beam are accounted for. The finite element
method is used to solve the system of the governing non-linear equations. By validating and verifying the
model it can be concluded that the model is very accurate and therefore suitable for the fire analysis of
a curved and tapered timber beam. Beside the three-phase numerical model, the thesis also extensively
discusses the methodology for estimating reliability of a timber beam exposed to fire, thus giving a firm
basis for the modern performance based approach aiming at introducing uncertainties in the fire analysis.
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