Today, most structural design for fire is governed by the International Building Code. Prescriptive code has proven to be efficient and simple to employ for structural design purposes. However, critical connecting elements in structures can be left unprotected. In addition, it is not safe to assume that the material properties of concrete are sufficient in providing prescribed fire ratings. Steel elements can be left exposed to the fire and increase in temperature quickly, experiencing significant reductions in strength that affect the overall connection. This thesis details the experimental testing of a typical precast connection utilized in large precast parking garage structures vulnerable to elevated temperatures from accidental fires. Configurations of various precast corbel and wall designs are exposed to radiant heating and internal temperatures are measured over time. Numerical simulations are performed in the Abaqus finite element analysis software to provide a parametric study. Through the parametric study, normal weight and lightweight concrete specimens were investigated numerically with various design parameters. The results showed maximum temperature reductions of 45 °C for the headed bars within the lightweight models compared to the normal weight models. By increasing the wall thickness from 8" to 10", the interior reinforcement temperatures reduced by 153 °C. Increasing the wall thickness further to 12" provided a 43 °C reduction in maximum temperature. Finally, reducing the rear mesh embedment depth to 1" resulted in 133 °C higher temperatures for the normal weight specimens.
