Robustness of automated rack-supported warehouses in fires

This work has addressed the robustness of automated rack-supported warehouses in fires. In the general logistic network, such warehouses are among the more valuable and strategic infrastructures. A numerical procedure based on a state-of-the-art localized fire model and finite element analysis has been developed for this evaluation. In particular, the localized fire model has been chosen as capable of evaluating the temperature input for the thermo-mechanical analysis. The computational procedure developed allows for overcoming typical nu-merical instabilities that prevent the complete evaluation of the kinematics of the ultimate phase of the structural collapse. The procedure has been applied to case studies, carefully selecting fire sce-narios, analyzing the structural behavior, and checking the forces redistribution during the analysis, hence, highlighting the role of roof truss and bracing tow-ers on the progressive collapse behavior. Thanks to the proposed framework and the case study results, a simplified design strategy to avoid the progressive collapse of automated rack-supported warehouses has been proposed and tested.