FireSERT Performance of ultra shallow floor beams (USFB) in buildings subjected to fires

Slimfloor (or integrated beam) construction has become popular throughout Europe in recent years, as it provides a steel-concrete floor construction of minimum depth. This is opposed to traditional composite constructions, which are more efficient for longer spans (> 10 m), Slimfloor construction offers opportunities for steel in span ranges between 5 to 10 m. The key feature of Slimfloor construction is that the steel beams are embedded within the slab depth, resulting in an overall structural depth of between 280 to 320 mm. Typically the floor plate consists of either a composite slab using deep decking, or precast concrete hollow core units, which span between the beams. This type of construction is particularly suitable for square grids. In order to ascertain the structural behavior of slim floor systems, a comprehensive amount of experimental and numerical research has been widely conducted with respect to various aspects, such as the robustness of shear bond formed between embedded steel section and concrete, the contribution of beam-to-column connection, web openings and the flexural section capacity of asymmetric beams.