Numerical Study of Fire-Induced Steel Frame Collapse: Validation of Experiments Using Static and Dynamic Methods

This paper presents a validated computational workflow for simulating the fire-induced collapse of steel moment-resisting frames, comparing static general and dynamic explicit analysis procedures. Whereas most existing studies employ dynamic explicit analysis for collapse validation, this work evaluates the capability of the static general approach as a viable alternative. Finite element models developed with beam and shell elements capture both global instability and local failure modes. The results show that the static general procedure effectively reproduces quasi-static post-buckling behaviour and predicts the critical failure temperature within 2–3% of experimental results, similar to the dynamic explicit method. For the dynamic explicit procedure, sensitivity analyses are conducted to optimise time scaling, mesh refining, and ensure realistic physical response while maintaining computational efficiency. The study demonstrates that, along with dynamic explicit analysis, static general procedure also offers a practical and reliable alternative for simulating fire-induced structural collapse, reducing computational time by up to eighteen times for beam models and around six times for shell models, while maintaining reliable accuracy.