Progressive Collapse Performance of Buildings and the Contribution of Infill Walls

Progressive collapse performance of steel structure with unreinforced masonry wall and load-bearing wall structure with concrete masonry unit (CMU) have been investigated through field experiments and computational simulations. During the experiments, single or multiple first-story columns or load bearing walls were physically removed from the buildings, which were demolished immediately after the experiments. Due to lack of full-scale building test data, the data produced in this research has been a valuable addition to the state of knowledge on gravity collapse of buildings. The primary goal of field experiments was to simulate the structural dynamic and static response of buildings that may experience collapse after sudden loss of column(s) or wall(s). Another objective was to investigate how the internal forces were redistributed within the building after each wall or column was removed. In this study, finite element models of the buildings were developed and analyzed to simulate the building performance and collapse potential. Computational models and simulations were examined and compared to the experimental data from the field tests. The contribution and effects of infill walls to progressive collapse resistance of frame structures were investigated. This study showed the robustness of existing buildings and the contribution of different structural components to collapse resistance.