Experimental Study of Novel Concrete Frames Considering Earthquake and Progressive Collapse

Abstract

Earthquake and progressive collapse are two critical hazards increasing the collapse risks of reinforced concrete (RC) frames. Existing research has revealed that considering the seismic design and progressive collapse design individually for a structure may lead to an undesirable structural performance and unnecessary waste of materials. In this study, two novel concrete frames are proposed to satisfy the demands of both seismic and progressive collapse designs. The experimental results of seismic cyclic and progressive collapse tests indicate that although implementing progressive collapse design can effectively enhance the progressive collapse resistance of RC frame, the beam could be over-strengthened, resulting in a potential unfavorable “strong beam-weak column” failure mode. By contrast, the novel RC frame with a newly proposed structural detailing demonstrates a minor joint region damage with a satisfying progressive collapse resistance. Moreover, the new prefabricated frame exhibits such characteristics as large rotation, low damage, self-centering, and ease of repair.