An alternative approach to assessing the steel column load-bearing capacity related to fire conditions, based on the Rankine-Merchant rule

An alternative procedure for the specification of steel column load-bearing capacity related to fire conditions, based on the empirical Rankine-Merchant formula, is presented and widely discussed. The obtained results are compared with the analogous estimates obtained after applying the conventional formulae recommended in the Eurocode 1993-1-2. Both quantitative and also qualitative relationships between the buckling coefficients determined using this approach and the corresponding coefficients resulting from the use of conventional code algorithm are analyzed in detail. Models of geometric imperfections recommended to calibrate the parameters of suitable buckling curves are proposed as well