A new type of steel-concrete-steel composite structure was adopted and widely used in the immersed tunnel of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan access. The research on the mechanical behavior of the new composite structure under a high temperature of fire is of great engineering significance to the fire protection design of the structure. Both the model test and a numerical simulation were adopted to study the mechanical behavior and damage characteristics of the new composite structure under fire. The RABT standard temperature rise curve was used to simulate the temperature rising law under fire (it reflects the characteristics of temperature rise in case of fire in an enclosed environment: rapidly raised to 1200 °C within 5 min, maintained at 1200 °C for 120 min, then it is cooled to normal temperature after 110 min). The temperature distribution law inside the structure, the deformation development law of the roof and the crack distribution were analyzed based on the thermal-mechanical coupling analysis method. The results showed that the internal part of the composite structure close to the fire surface was directly affected by the high temperature, and the temperature presented a step distribution law, while the part far from the fire surface was affected by the lag effect of the temperature transfer, and the temperature presented a continuous growth law. The roof deformation presented a three-stage model of "rapid growth-deformation stability-deformation recovery" with time. The overall cracks of the composite structure showed a symmetrical distribution under fire. The composite structure presented a shear failure mode as a whole. The results could provide a reference for the study of fire resistance for the new composite structure and support the structural fire protection design of the immersed tunnel of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan access.
Keywords: failure mode; mechanical behavior under fire; model test; temperature distribution; the steel–concrete–steel composite structures; tunnel engineering.