Linear Static Progressive Collapse Analysis of Ductility Dependent RC buildings: Case study of an 11-story building

Abstract

Recent terrorist activities in the world have led to an interest in blast resistant design. This has resulted in research activities concerning the progressive collapse of buildings and how improved methods of analysis can be used to mitigate the effects of progressive collapse. Although several methods of analysis have been developed, there is a lack of adequate methods for the linear static analysis of ductility dependent RC buildings. In this study, a simple methodology was used to develop capacity increase factors and dynamic multipliers that correspond to different ductility classes of Eurocode (EC) 8 designed RC frames. The
results of the new methodology were compared to the results of the General Service Administration (GSA) guidelines when applied to a group of 11 story RC buildings of different ductility classes. It was found that the dynamic multipliers for the new method were typically less than 2.0 as given by GSA. The maximum allowed capacity increase factors were proven equivalent to the behaviour factors reflecting the ductility used in the seismic design. Structures found vulnerable by the GSA criteria were resilient by the EC8 criteria, because design ductility was well accounted for in the later.