Seismic behavior, blast response and progressive collapse of RC structures equipped with viscoelastic dampers

Abstract

In this study, the performance of viscoelastic dampers designed for seismic loading has been investigated for controlling reinforced concrete special moment frame (RC-SMF) structures against blast loading. In addition, the progressive collapse due to an explosion has been examined in these structures. Three reinforced concrete structures with three, six, and fifteen floors have used for this study. All three structures have special moment frame as the lateral resisting system and were equipped with seismic viscoelastic dampers. The attained results confirmed impact of the seismic viscoelastic dampers d in reducing the response of structures to blast loading, especially in low rise structures and lower floors of high rise structures. In the investigation of progressive collapse, in order to specify the most critical column under the blast loading applied on structures, a new method was introduced in addition to the column's elimination scenarios introduced in the USGSA code. This study introduced a new method for specifying the most critical column under the blast loading. The attained results from this method compared with columns elimination scenarios that discussed in the USGSA code. In this developed method, the critical columns which with the maximum generated strain in the longitudinal rebar of the column eliminated and the structures reanalyzed for progressive collapse. After the elimination of the desired column, a progressive collapse analysis was performed. According to the results of the sudden removal of the column and the nonlinear dynamic analysis, the collapse would occur with and without dampers in the case of the 3-story building, in the case of the 6-story building there is an improvement in the vertical displacement and in the case of 15- story the difference is not significant.