Evaluating the Robustness of Precast Concrete Framing Enhancements for Progressive Collapse Resistance

Abstract

The ability of a structure to resist a disproportionate collapse due to localized damage has become a topic of increasing concern within the building community in the wake of structural collapses worldwide over the last half century. According to current criteria, progressive collapse resistant design is typically implemented by removing columns one at a time in one-story lengths from the structural frame at several prescribed locations to simulate the local damage. The structure must then redistribute its loads to prevent collapse. This paper describes a modified approach to quantifying the robustness of building frame systems subjected to a single column loss damage scenario. This robustness procedure incorporates both ultimate strength limits of the system and measurements of consequence (i.e., the severity of collapse at overload) in describing the overall collapse resistance of the structure. This procedure is applied to a 10-story precast/prestressed concrete prototype building system. A parametric study is conducted on the assumed collapse-resistant properties of typical discrete beam-tocolumn connections. These results will be utilized to inform the development, and testing, of an improved connection detail