Robustness of Structures: Lessons from Failures

Agarwal, Jitendra; Haberland, Marco; Holický, Milan; Sýkora, Milan; Thelandersson, Sven

doi:10.2749/101686612x13216060213635

Cited by 25 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The alternative load path relies on the 'robustness' of the structure (an attribute of a structural system that relates to its ability to fulfil its function in the face of adverse events (Agarwal, 2011)) achieved through continuity and ductility of members to redistribute forces following localised damage and directs the designer's attention towards the behaviour of the structure after some damage has occurred. This method is a threat-independent method and avoids designing for an extreme event of specific magnitude that may be exceeded during the service life.…”

Section: Alternative Load Path Design Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of progressive collapse research and regulations

Byfield

Mudalige

Morison³

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures

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History has demonstrated that buildings designed to conventional design codes can lack the robustness necessary to withstand localised damage, partial or even complete collapse. This variable performance has led governmental organisations to seek ways of ensuring all buildings of significant size possess a minimum level of robustness. The research community has responded by advancing understanding of how structures behave when subjected to localised damage. Regulations and design recommendations have been developed to help ensure more consistent resilience in all framed buildings of significant size, and rigorous design approaches have been specified for buildings deemed potentially vulnerable to extreme loading events. This paper summarises some of the more important progressive collapse events, to identify key attributes that lead to vulnerability to collapse. Current procedures and guidelines for ensuring a minimum level of performance are reviewed and modelling methods for structures subjected to localised damage are described. These include increasingly sophisticated progressive collapse analysis procedures, including linear static and non-linear static analysis, as well as non-linear static pushover and linear dynamic methods. Finally, fully non-linear dynamic methods are considered. Building connections potentially represent the most vulnerable structural elements in steel-framed buildings; their failure can lead to progressive collapses. Steel connections also present difficulties with respect to frame modelling and this paper highlights benefits and drawbacks of some modelling procedures with respect to their treatment of connections.

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Section: Alternative Load Path Design Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of progressive collapse research and regulations

Byfield

Mudalige

Morison³

et al. 2014

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures

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show abstract

“…Regardless of the building material, structural robustness is an important characteristic of a structure that prevents damage that is disproportionate to the original cause (Agarwal et al, 2012). Structural robustness tends to be less important in areas subject to severe earthquakes because buildings designed for high seismic loads tend to have a high degree of inherent structural robustness for other load cases, including severe fires.…”

Section: Basics Of Structural Robustnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings

Buchanan¹,

Östman²

2022

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This book provides guidance on the design of timber buildings for fire safety, developed within the global network Fire Safe Use of Wood (FSUW) and with reference to Eurocode 5 and other international codes. It introduces the behaviour of fires in timber buildings and describes strategies for providing safety if unwanted fires occur. It provides guidance on building design to prevent any fires from spreading while maintaining the load-bearing capacity of structural timber elements, connections and compartmentation. Also included is information on the reaction-to-fire of wood products according to different classification systems, as well as active measures of fire protection, and quality of workmanship and inspection as means of fulfilling fire safety objectives.

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“…Numerical application of the proposed methodology and probabilistic models reveals that: • The partial factors recommended in the current standards provide for a lower reliability level than that indicated in EN 1990; reliability indices around 2.3 are obtained for a 50-year reference period. Such a low reliability level might be attributed to "hidden safety" in the time-invariant components of climatic actions, increasing use of better calculation models (possibly associated with reduced model uncertainties), and additional requirements on structural robustness [69]. • Partial factors for variable actions -independent of the ratio of permanent and variable actions -can be taken into account.…”

Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Calibrating Partial Factors – Methodology, Input Data and Case Study of Steel Structures

Nadolski

Rózsás

Sýkora

2019

Period. Polytech. Civil Eng.

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Partial factors are commonly based on expert judgements and on calibration to previous design formats. This inevitably results in unbalanced structural reliability for different types of construction materials, loads and limit states. Probabilistic calibration makes it possible to account for plentiful requirements on structural performance, environmental conditions, production and execution quality etc. In the light of ongoing revisions of Eurocodes and the development of National Annexes, the study overviews the methodology of probabilistic calibration, provides input data for models of basic variables and illustrates the application by a case study. It appears that the partial factors recommended in the current standards provide for a lower reliability level than that indicated in EN 1990. Different values should be considered for the partial factors for imposed, wind and snow loads, appreciating the distinct nature of uncertainties in their load effects.

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Robustness of Structures: Lessons from Failures

Cited by 25 publications

References 15 publications

A review of progressive collapse research and regulations

A review of progressive collapse research and regulations

Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings

Calibrating Partial Factors – Methodology, Input Data and Case Study of Steel Structures

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