VULNERABILITY TO PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE OF SEISMICALLY DESIGNED RC FRAMED STRUCTURES: CORNER COLUMN CASE

As in the seismic design, to resist such catastrophic loads, structures should be provided with an adequate level of structural continuity, redundancy, robustness and ductility, so that alternative load transfer paths can develop when the structure loses an individual member. Following the GSA Guidelines (2003), the paper presents an investigation regarding the vulnerability to progressive collapse of a model representing a 13-storey RC framed building when its seismic design was made according to the provisions of the present seismic code P100-1/2006. . Numerical results regarding the behavior of the model when the structure is damaged by the sudden removal of a corner column are given. Demands and capacities of structural members are assessed and DCR values for the lower part of the building are presented. A typical medium-rise building having RC frames seismically designed for Bucharest according to seismic design code P100-1/2006, does not experience failures or progressive collapse when subjected to different "missing column" scenarios, including the removal of a corner column. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]