Fast assessment method for progressive collapse of RC frame structures

Abstract

Progressive collapse has attracted enormous research interests since the catastrophic 911 event. However, there is still a lack of fast assessment methods for assessing the damage state of structures suffering a certain initial local failure. In this paper, a newly developed efficient numerical model is introduced for progressive collapse analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) frame structure, and the reliability of the numerical model is verified by a collapse test. Then, the fast assessment method is proposed based on both the numerical model and energy approach. A 6-story RC frame structure is taken as an example, and three different initial failure scenarios are analysed by both the proposed fast assessment method and direct dynamic analysis method. Results indicate that although only one static analysis is required for the proposed fast assessment method, the accuracy is almost identical with that of direct dynamic analysis.