A new method for progressive collapse analysis of RC frames

During the recent years, resistance mechanisms of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings against progressive collapse are investigated extensively. Although a general agreement is observed about their qualitative behaviour in technical literature, there is not such a comprehensive point of view regarding the quantitative methods for predicting collapse resistance of RC members. Therefore, in the present study a simplified theoretical method is developed in order to predict general behaviour of RC frames under the column removal scenario. In the introduced method, the robustness of the frame is extracted based on the capacity of the beams. The proposed method expresses ultimate arching and catenary capacities of the beams and also obtains the corresponding vertical displacements. Based on the calculated capacities, the introduced method also provides a quantitative assessment of structural robustness and determines whether or not the collapse occurs. The capability of the method is evaluated using experimental results in the literature. The evaluation study indicates that the proposed theoretical procedure can establish a reliable foundation for progressive collapse assessment of RC frame structures.