• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.128-134
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• 2013

High bending collapse performance (maximum resistance force and mean resistance force) of body center pillar is an important design target for vehicle safety against side impact. In this study, effect of the upper section shape and the thickness of outer reinforcement on bending collapse performance was investigated for the center pillar of a large passenger car. First, through bending collapse analyses using simple models with uniform section, an optimized center pillar upper section was chosen. Next, bending collapse performance for various models of the actual center pillar with changing the thickness of outer reinforcement were analyzed. The finally designed model showed distinctive enhancement in bending collapse performance nearly without weight increase.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.351-375
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• 2013

Post-punching resistance of a flat slab can help redistribute the gravity loads and resist progressive collapse of a structure following initial damage. One important difficulty with accounting for the post-punching strength of a slab is the discontinuity that develops following punching shear. A numerical simulation technique is proposed here to model and evaluate post-punching resistance of flat slabs. It is demonstrated that the simulation results of punching shear and post-punching response of the model of a slab on a single column are in good agreement with corresponding experimental data. It is also shown that progressive collapse due to a column removal (explosion) can lead to punching failure over an adjacent column. Such failure can propagate throughout the structure leading to the progressive collapse of the structure. Through post-punching modeling of the slab and accounting for the associated discontinuity, it is also demonstrated that the presence of an adequate amount of integrity reinforcement can provide an alternative load path and help resist progressive collapse.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.237-247
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• 2016

Progressive collapse resistance of RC buildings can be analyzed by considering column loss scenarios. Using finite element analysis and a static test, the progressive collapse process of a RC frame under monotonic vertical displacement of a side column was investigated, simulating a column removal scenario. A single-story 1/3 scale RC frame that comprises two spans and two bays was tested and computed, and downward displacement of a side column was placed until failure. Our study offers insight into the failure modes and progressive collapse behavior of a RC frame. It has been noted that the damage of structural members (beams and slabs) occurs only in the bay where the removal side column is located. Greater catenary action and tensile membrane action are mobilized in the frame beams and slabs, respectively, at large deformations, but they mainly happen in the direction where the frame beams and slabs are laterally restrained. Based on the experimental and computational results, the mechanism of progressive collapse resistance of RC frames at different stages was discussed further. With large deformations, a simplified calculation method for catenary action and tensile membrane action is proposed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.435-444
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• 2017

In the past, the progressive collapse resulting from local failures during accidents has caused many tragedies and loss of life. Although long-span spatial grid structures are characterised by a high degree of static indeterminacy, the sudden failure of key members may lead to a catastrophic progressive collapse. For this reason, it is especially necessary to research the progressive collapse resistance capacity of long-span spatial grid structures. This paper presents an evaluation method of important members and a novel dynamic analysis method for simulating the progressive collapse of long-span spatial grid structures. Engineering cases were analysed to validate these proposed method. These proposed methods were eventually implemented in the progressive collapse analysis of the main stadium for the Universiade Sports Center. The roof of the structure was concluded to have good resistance against progressive collapse. The novel methods provide results close to practice and are especially suitable for the progressive collapse analysis of long-span spatial grid structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.437-450
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• 2022

When the vertical load-bearing members in high-rise structures fail locally, the beam-column joints play an important role in the redistribution of the internal forces. In this paper, a static laboratory test of three full-scale flush flange beam-reinforced connections with side and cover plates (CP-FBSP connection) with double half-span steel beams and single L-shaped columns composed of concrete-filled steel tubes (L-CFST columns) was conducted. The influence of the side plate width and cover plate thickness on the progressive collapse resistance of the substructure was thoroughly analyzed. The failure mode, vertical force-displacement curves, strain variation, reaction force of the pin support and development of internal force in the section with the assumed plastic hinge were discussed. Then, through the verified finite element model, the corresponding analyses of the thickness and length of the side plates, the connecting length between the steel beam flange and cover plate, and the vertical-force eccentricity were carried out. The results show that the failure of all the specimens occurred through the cracking of the beam flange or the cover plate, and the beam chord rotations measured by the test were all greater than 0.085 rad. Increasing the length, thickness and width of the side plates slightly reduced the progressive collapse resistance of the substructures. The vertical-force eccentricity along the beam length reduced the progressive collapse resistance of the substructure. An increase in the connecting length between the beam flange and cover plate can significantly improve the progressive collapse resistance of substructures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.761-779
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• 2016

Design of safe structures with resistance to progressive collapse is of paramount importance in structural engineering. In this paper, an efficient optimization technique is used for optimal design of steel moment frames subjected to progressive collapse. Seismic design specifications of AISC-LRFD code together with progressive collapse provisions of UFC are considered as the optimization constraints. Linear static, nonlinear static and nonlinear dynamic analysis procedures of alternate path method of UFC are considered in design process. Three design examples are solved and the results are discussed. Results show that frames, which are designed solely considering the AISC-LRFD limitations, cannot resist progressive collapse, in terms of UFC requirements. Moreover, although the linear static analysis procedure needs the least computational cost with compared to the other two procedures, is the most conservative one and results in heaviest frame designs against progressive collapse. By comparing the results of this work with those reported in literature, it is also shown that the optimization technique used in this paper significantly reduces the required computational effort for design. In addition, the effect of the use of connections with high plastic rotational capacity is investigated, whose results show that lighter designs with resistance to progressive collapse can be obtained by using Side Plate connections in steel frames.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.45-50
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• 2010

The marine pipelines laid in deep waters were evaluated to verify the resistance on the plastic collapse to heavy ambient external pressure due to hydrostatic pressure. In this study, the plastic collapse behavior of the marine pipe subjected to hydrostatic pressure was evaluated with the ovality and ratio of diameter to thickness in FE analyses. A parametric study was shown that the internal pressure increased the plastic collapse depth by increasing of the resistance to the plastic collapse. It was also shown that the collapse depth of the pipeline having a local ovality was deeper than that of the pipeline having a global ovality. Finally, the plastic collapse depth decreased when either the ratio of diameter to thickness or the ovality increased.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2018

This paper presents a review on progressive collapse mechanism of steel framed buildings exposed to fire. The influence of load ratios, strength of structural members (beam, column, slab, connection), fire scenarios, bracing systems, fire protections on the collapse mode and collapse time of structures is comprehensively reviewed. It is found that the key influencing factors include load ratio, fire scenario, bracing layout and fire protection. The application of strong beams, high load ratios, multi-compartment fires will lead to global downward collapse which is undesirable. The catenary action in beams and tensile membrane action in slabs contribute to the enhancement of structural collapse resistance, leading to a ductile collapse mechanism. It is recommended to increase the reinforcement ratio in the sagging and hogging region of slabs to not only enhance the tensile membrane action in the slab, but to prevent the failure of beam-to-column connections. It is also found that a frame may collapse in the cooling phase of compartment fires or under travelling fires. This is because that the steel members may experience maximum temperatures and maximum displacements under these two fire scenarios. An edge bay fire is more prone to induce the collapse of structures than a central bay fire. The progressive collapse of buildings can be effectively prevented by using bracing systems and fire protections. A combination of horizontal and vertical bracing systems as well as increasing the strength and stiffness of bracing members is recommended to enhance the collapse resistance. A protected frame dose not collapse immediately after the local failure but experiences a relatively long withstanding period of at least 60 mins. It is suggested to use three-dimensional models for accurate predictions of whether, when and how a structure collapses under various fire scenarios.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.379-395
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• 2013

Aim of this paper is to apply to a steel truss bridge a methodology that takes into account the consequences of extreme loads on structures, focusing on the influence that the loss of primary elements has on the structural load bearing capacity. In this context, the topic of structural robustness, intended as the capacity of a structure to withstand damages without suffering disproportionate response to the triggering causes while maintaining an assigned level of performance, becomes relevant. In the first part of this study, a brief literature review of the topics of structural robustness, collapse resistance and progressive collapse takes place, focusing on steel structures. In the second part, a procedure for the evaluation of the structural response and robustness of skeletal structures under impact loads is presented and tested in simple structures. Following that, an application focuses on a case study bridge, the extensively studied I-35W Minneapolis steel truss bridge. The bridge, which had a structural design particularly sensitive to extreme loads, recently collapsed for a series of other reasons, in part still under investigation. The applied method aims, in addition to the robustness assessment, at increasing the collapse resistance of the structure by testing alternative designs.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.209-220
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• 2012

Post-earthquake fire (PEF) can lead to a rapid collapse of buildings that have been partially damaged as a result of a prior earthquake. Almost all standards and codes for the design of structures against earthquake ignore the risk of PEF, and thus buildings designed using those codes could be too weak when subjected to a fire after an earthquake. An investigation based on sequential analysis inspired by FEMA356 is performed here on the immediate occupancy (IO), life safety (LS) and collapse prevention (CP) performance levels of two portal frames, after they are pushed to arrive at a certain level of displacement corresponding to the mentioned performance level. This investigation is followed by a fire analysis of the damaged frames, examining the time taken for the damaged frames to collapse. As a point of reference, a fire analysis is also performed for undamaged frames and before the occurrence of earthquake. The results indicate that while there is minor difference between the fire resistances of the fire-alone situation and the frames pushed to the IO level of performance, a notable difference is observed between the fire-alone analysis and the frames pushed to arrive at LS and CP levels of performance and exposed to PEF. The results also show that exposing only the beams to fire results in a higher decline of the fire resistance, compared to exposing only the columns to fire. Furthermore, the results show that the frames pushed to arrive at LS and CP levels of performance collapse in a global collapse mode laterally, whereas at the IO level of performance and fire-alone situation, the collapse mechanism is mostly local through the collapse of beams. Whilst the investigation is conducted for a certain class of portal frames, the results confirm the need for the incorporation of PEF into the process of analysis and design, and provide some quantitative measures on the level of associated effects.