Ask John

Railway Track and Structures, July, 2004

I have had a fire on a steel deck plate girder span. What is the best way to test the steel for heat damage?

My first recommendation is not to overact. Your initial impression can be very negative due to the fire's damage and visual impact. Do not be distracted by a common impulse to assume that steel exposed to a fire must have metallurgical damage. Let me offer a systematic approach to evaluating fire-damaged steel structures, but first let's consider some basic concepts and relative temperature references:

* Prior to rolling into structural shapes, a steel ingot temperature is in the range between 1,900 degrees F and 2,300 degrees F.

* Most structural steel shapes go through their final rolling at temperatures around 1,600 degrees F.

* Annealing and normalizing temperatures are around 1,500 degrees F to 1,600 degrees F.

* Stress-relieving temperatures range from 1,100 degrees F to 1,200 degrees F.

A critical concept to remember is that temperatures must exceed 1,300 degrees F before significant metallurgical changes take place and structural steel will experience local buckling or large deflections prior to reaching this temperature level. The temperature of 1,200 degrees F is normally used as a limiting value when heat straightening or curving steel and provides a safety factor against metallurgical changes. Also, due to the low carbon and other alloying components, structural steel shapes will normally regain nearly 100 percent of their pre-heated properties if the fire's temperature does not exceed 1,300 degrees F.

With the metallurgical concerns set aside, each structural steel component of a fire-damaged bridge needs to be categorized and evaluated. My "old-timers" taught me to place each bridge component into one of three categories, based on their physical condition, as follows:

* Category A -- Basically straight and undamaged, but includes those members with slight deformations not easily detected;

* Category B -- Obviously deformed, but repairable components through heat straightening; and,

* Category C -- Severely deformed members that would be more economical to replace than to repair unless under extreme circumstances.

It will be unlikely that Category A or Category B members were subjected to temperatures at or above 1,200 degrees F so that metallurgical changes could occur. Decisions to heat straighten Category B components are normally based on expediency and economics. For those members in Category C, with excessive deflections, metallurgical degradation becomes a moot point. However, if the decision is made to heat straighten these members, some metallurgical degradation can be acceptable on a case-by-case basis. If the decision were made to salvage a Category C member, it would be due to its critical location making removal inappropriate. After repairs to the Category C member, consider reinforcing with splice plates, etc. If the decision is made to heat straighten and/or reinforce a Category B or C member that is in compression, be sure to evaluate and consider any permanent deformations with respect to its ability to carry the required compression forces without buckling.

A general rule to help determine fire temperature information is the condition of the surface mill scale. If the mill scale is noticeable and tightly adhering to the surface, the steel's temperature during the fire was considerably below 1,200 degrees F. If the steel temperature was above 1,200 degrees F, the steel's surface will reflect an eroded surface that is obviously different from a mill rolling appearance.

After evaluating the primary and secondary bridge components, do not forget to consider their connections. Large axial forces are generated in a restrained component during a fire and will induce equally large forces within the end connections. For example, when a Category A component cools it will pull away from the connection if it has fractured and will expose any damage.

For welded connections, the weld material will react the same as the main structural components with respect to metallurgical issues. Temperatures from a fire are consistent with post-weld heat treatment in the pressure vessel industry.

High-strength bolts are typically tempered in the range of between 800 degrees F and 1,200 degrees F. Normally, bolts that have been exposed to fires will not experience changes in their properties; however, if the bolts are exposed to fire temperatures in the range of the tempering value for more than one or two hours, they will experience relaxation of their pre-tensioning. There is a very narrow range of temperatures between a high-strength bolt's tempering temperature and phase transformation temperature. Therefore, if a high-strength bolt has been exposed to a fire above the tempering temperature, it is likely that it will have a reduced capacity and should be replaced. Conversely, those connections for Category A components that have remained straight would not have been exposed to temperatures above the tempering value and could remain in place.