Progressive structural capacity loss assessment—A framework for modern reinforced concrete buildings

Abstract

By the virtue of burgeoning terrorism, the exponential growth of advanced weaponry, and allied aids for explosions, it is quite evident that infrastructural facilities in the world have increasingly become more susceptible to sabotaging activities. The ever enhancing employment of reinforced concrete (RC) in the construction industry around the globe, the progressive collapse mechanisms, and respective mitigation strategies in the context of terrorism have garnered quite an attraction by the structural engineering community. The proficiency to envisage the complete collapse under the chain reaction of structural failures, partial collapse of key structural members, or the strength degradation of fundamental structural elements under the blast or impact loading can deliver significant information to cope with partial or complete structural failure. It is quite convenient to say that during the service life, a structure may experience extreme loading conditions. The current study has proposed a new methodology to cover the effect of uncertainty involved in loading on key structural elements of new and complex structures by emphasizing a very realistic structural capacity loss mechanism that allows the incremental reduction in the structural capacities of pivotal structural elements against any sort of impact loading instead of their complete annihilation. To demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology, a 13-story complex structure was selected that was comprised of a diverse structural configuration. The outcomes and results ensured the structural integrity against the applied loadings, as well as the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of School Buildings in Seismic Zone 4 of Pakistan

“…eir safety and continuity of education is of paramount importance, not only for the parents but also for the long-term social growth and economic prosperity of the nation. A structure may get subjected to extreme seismic loading conditions during its life span, so an adequate engineering proficiency to assess diminishing structural capacity is essential to avoid complete structural collapse or to decide any specific intervention [1]. e 2005 Kashmir earthquake caused approximately 87000 casualties, out of which almost 19,000 were school going children, and cumulatively, it affected about 3.5 million people [2].…”