On May 18, 8:45 pm, wrote:
On Sun, 18 May 2008 18:28:48 -0400, Matt Whiting wrote:
Thomas G. Marshall wrote:
said something like:

The concrete in steel lolly columns is to help keep them from
collapsing in a fire.

....so the preventing a dent thing is secondary, or not a concern...?

No, preventing buckling is a significant advantage provided by filling a
steel column.

Uh, yes. And the buckling it prevents would be the result of fire. Filling the
columns with cement is to protect the columns from buckling in a FIRE.

In a wood framed building? I guess if the fire started at the base of
the column that might be a good argument, but in any real situation
the house would be engulfed in flames long before the plastic
temperature of the steel was reached.

The concrete fill is to prevent buckling, partially from being dented,
but also to prevent localized failure which can occur at lower loads
than the straight compressive strength of the material(s) would
indicate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckling

R