Analysis and design of reinforced concrete structure against progressive collapse

Progressive collapse in high rise structures due to man-made or natural disasters urged structural engineers to design a safe structure considering all possible loads that a building may encounter throughout its lifetime. This progressive collapse is catastrophic as collapse occurs in an instance, not allowing time for residents to escape. There are certain guidelines such as General Service Administration (GSA) and Department of Defence (DOD) concerning the design and retrofitting of structures to resist the progressive collapse that should be followed, especially for materials such as concrete and steel. The main methodology in this paper is based on a concept “column removal method” as stated in GSA guideline can reduce a chance of progressive collapse by providing alternate load path for structures through additional reinforcement. Using STAAD.Pro software, the G+11 storey is designed and considering several cases: a) an exterior column near the middle of the long side of the building. b) an exterior column near the middle of the short side of the building. c) a column located at the corner of the building. d) a column interior to the perimeter column lines. These columns are removed at an instance as per GSA and for these cases, reinforcement is found for the elements adjacent to the removed column. The results are found for a) reinforcement for adjacent/nearby beam and column, with and without loss of an exterior column near the middle of the long side of the building. b) reinforcement for adjacent/nearby beam and column, with and without loss of column located at the corner of the building. c) reinforcement for adjacent/nearby beam and column, with and without loss of an exterior column near the middle of the short side of the building. d) reinforcement for adjacent/nearby beam and column, with and without loss of a column interior to the perimeter column lines of building. By replacing reinforcement details of both beam and column (without removal of column) with reinforcement details of beam and column (after removal of column) might reduce the chance of structure failure when subjected to natural or man-made disasters. Hence, this prevents the building from Progressive collapse