The FAILNOMORE project – Practice‐oriented design recommendations against progressive collapse in steel and steel‐concrete buildings

Abstract

AbstractStructural robustness is a specific safety consideration which is currently addressed in modern codes and standards, including the Eurocodes. It requires particular care from all professionals involved in the construction industry. The need for practical guidelines to mitigate the risk of progressive collapse has been emphasised by recent catastrophic events such as the 9/11 terrorist attack in New‐York. The lack of consistent design rules for practitioners is however clearly identified in existing normative documents and literature. Accordingly, various research projects were launched, particularly in Europe through RFCS research projects. Thanks to these research activities, significant scientific background has been developed, with the aim of understanding and characterising the behaviour of steel and composite structures subjected to exceptional events such as impact, explosion, or loss of a bearing member. Nevertheless, there was a need to consolidate the available scientific knowledge and to transform it into a consistent set of practical recommendations in order to facilitate the design of steel and composite structures for robustness. This was the purpose of a recent RFCS project “FAILNOMORE” (grant No 899371) which was concluded in June 2022. A brief summary and discussion of the main outcomes of this project are provided in the present paper.