Idealized fire-structures interaction on ship and offshore building members: A benchmark study using explicit-dynamic FE approach

Loadings on ships and offshore vessels and equipment are primarily classified as dynamic type, which is borne by the strength of the structure. Regarding structures of ships and offshore, their components generally involve gas, oil, and coal, such as combustion engine power, and have typically complex electrical circuits to meet the operational needs of their crews. Thus, structural members of the offshore ship have a high risk of catching fire in accidental events. The applied materials on these structures will experience a decrease in mechanical properties when experiencing temperature changes. The combination of the heavy loading borne by the structure and the reduction in the mechanical properties of the material can cause massive structural failure. This paper aims to highlight the strength of an idealized structural member from the ship and offshore structures in the event of a fire accident and extends the discussion to the areas where standard fire tests have not been reached. Structural failure due to fire is a complex phenomenon analyzed by ABAQUS finite element analysis, which adopts the explicit-dynamics approach. Pioneer laboratory tests are pointed as benchmark references which are recalculated to obtain a rapid estimation of the fire-structure state.