Terminal Strength and Energy Capacity of RC Beams During Progressive Collapse of Multistory Buildings

摘要

The objective of this work is to create a set of engineering formulas approximating structure response to a loss of one of supporting columns. Those expressions are created for the beam mode, arching mode, and the cable mode of a beam losing the column support. The correction coefficients are derived on the basis of experimental results. To assess the design load for an isolated beam subjected to a test, it is proposed to use the safety factor as a guide, the factor that can easily be calculated for any real project. The response to dynamic column removal is quantified and the Dynamic Factor is determined. This is helpful in the initial assessment of RC elements. The proposed column failure mechanism has two phases; the first one can be slow, but the second is usually fast, because of the altered configuration. The energy criterion presented provides another check of the capacity of a beam to withstand a column removal.