Investigation of 3D effects on dynamic progressive collapse resistance of RC structures considering slabs and infill walls

In recent years, the occurrence of a series of extreme events has raised awareness of what progressive collapse of mainstream reinforced concrete frame structures can cause in terms of damage and direct/indirect losses. Even though these low-probability/high-consequence events, which are triggered by accidental loads not necessarily considered at the design stage, have attracted growing attention, less consideration has been given to spatial effects caused by floor slabs and infill walls in the progressive collapse simulation of RC frame structures. A large number of research studies have proposed multifarious methods, the correctness and simplicity of which are characterized by different levels that are theory- and/or method-specific. Therefore, in order to assess and quantify the influence of floor slabs and infill walls on progressive collapse resistance of 3D RC frame structures, an efficient numerical modeling approach was first developed using OpenSees software. Then, the modeling strategy was validated by simulating different experimental test results. The numerical investigation was further expanded by performing incremental dynamic analysis on both 2D and 3D structural models. The results show that secondary and/or non-structural components such as floor slabs and infill walls produce a significant improvement in the capacity of the structure to resist progressive collapse, and that the respective characteristics of the two are magnified due to the coupling effect in the space frame.