Investigation of Progressive Collapse Resistance for a Seismically Designed RC Building

摘要

The objective of this study is the vulnerability phenomenon to progressive collapse of a 7-storey Reinforced Concrete (RC) building in conformance with ACI 318-11/IBC 2009. Progressive collapse is defined as a disastrous structural phenomenon due to human-made and natural hazards. The progressive collapse mechanism involves a single local failure which could lead to major deformations ending up with the total collapse of the structure. The building was designed as a Special Moment Resisting Frame (SMRF) and assumed to have an Occupancy Category II per UFC 3-301-01. Tie Forces (TF) and Enhanced Local Resistance (ELR) methods according to Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC 4-023-03) and Demand Capacity Ratio (DCR) method based on General Services Administration (GSA) were incorporated to investigate the probability of progressive collapse. According to GSA, the study illustrated that the building's columns did not require additional reinforcement to prevent progressive collapse. Also, the study revealed that additional reinforcement was required for all the three column removal cases to meet the progressive collapse requirements based on GSA. Furthermore, it was concluded that two-way slabs required additional reinforcement to meet UFC requirements.