Theoretical resistance of RC frames under the column removal scenario considering high strain rates

Development of new strategies in order to prevent the progressive collapse of structures is the main focus of many studies during recent years. Due to the available complexities, most of these investigations are concentrated on static behavior of structures while most of the events leading to progressive collapse of structures are inherently dynamic incidents. In the present study, a theoretical method is developed in order to compute the dynamic resistance of reinforced concrete (RC) subassemblages, which are accepted as an idealized part of RC frames in the literature. The proposed method calculates the arching and catenary capacities of RC subassemblages under the middle column removal scenario. The high strain rates due to dynamic behavior of RC members are also considered in the proposed method. An extensive evaluation study is performed in three different stages in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of the introduced approach. Regarding the performed evaluations, the developed theoretical method could provide a reliable framework for progressive collapse analysis of RC frames under the dynamic removal of the columns.