Author(s)

M. Hadjioannou, S. Donahue, E. B. Williamson, M. D. Engelhardt, B. Izzuddin, D. Nethercot, H. Zolghadrzadehjahromi, D. Stevens, K. Marchand & M. Waggoner

Abstract

As a result of several high-profile terrorist attacks against buildings in recent years, mitigating progressive structural collapse has been of particular interest to the structural engineering community. Previous research studies have focused on the impact of an individual column failure on the overall stability of a structure. These studies have relied mostly on computational investigations and experimental tests on individual components. Few studies have been done to predict the behavior of floor slabs above a failed column, and the computational tools used have not been validated against experimental results. The research program presented in this paper extends prior work in this area by testing specimens that include all structural components of a typical floor system in a prototypical steel-framed structure. In total, six full-scale tests will be performed, including three interior 2-bay × 2-bay specimens and three exterior 2-bay × 1- bay specimens. In all tests, the mid-span column will be removed statically while the slab is loaded with the recommended extreme event design load. The slab consists of corrugated decking with lightly reinforced concrete on top that is connected to the floor beams through shear studs and is consistent with typical

Keywords

progressive collapse, disproportionate collapse, composite floor slabs