Collapse Performance Evaluation of Steel Buildings after Loss of Columns

Collapse performance of two existing buildings was investigated through experimental testing and computational simulations. Each building was tested in the field by physically removing four first-story perimeter columns from each building prior to building's scheduled demolition. Linear static and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed using two- and three-dimensional building frame models. Experimental data from the field tests of two buildings were used to compare and verify the computational analyses. The measured strain data compared relatively well with the analysis results. In particular, 3-D model was more accurate than the 2-D model. The strain values calculated from the nonlinear dynamic analysis were smaller than those from the linear static analysis, and were closer to the measured strains. Also, linear static analysis resulted in larger remandto- capacity ratios (DCR) and vertical displacements than nonlinear dynamic analysis for both 2-D and 3-D models.