Large-Scale Experimental Tests of Composite Steel Floor Systems Subjected to Column Loss Scenarios
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 2
Abstract
As demonstrated by terrorist attacks against the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City and a U.S. Embassy building in Nairobi, Kenya, some structures may be vulnerable to progressive collapse. Previous computational studies have shown that floor systems play a key role in redistributing loads during progressive collapse events, but only a few experimental studies support these results. The aim of the current research is to experimentally characterize the behavior of steel-concrete composite floor slabs under column loss scenarios. Two large-scale tests on isolated sections of a steel-framed building were conducted until complete collapse. The two specimens were designed and detailed according to commonly used practices found in buildings in the United States. No special provisions to mitigate progressive collapse were included in the design. The first specimen was an interior -bay section, and the second specimen was an exterior -bay section. Both specimens were tested under a center column loss scenario. The column was statically removed while the floor slab was uniformly loaded under service load conditions. Because both specimens survived the column removal stage, the slab was subsequently loaded with a uniformly distributed load until total collapse was achieved. Observations from the test program indicate the potential for significant capacity of composite floor systems following column loss.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper is based upon work supported by the Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), under Award No. 2010-ST-108-000014. The authors thank the Department of Homeland Security for their support of this research program. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Valley Joist, Inc., for their donation of steel floor decking, and also thank the Steel Deck Institute for their assistance with this project. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Professor Bassam Izzuddin from Imperial College and his research assistant Dr. Hamed Zolghadr Jahromi for providing computational modeling support during this research effort. Engineers from Protection Engineering Consultants provided valuable insight on current progressive collapse design guidelines as well as the selected testing methodology. Mark Waggoner from Walter P. Moore was instrumental in providing guidance on current structural engineering design practice. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the assistance provided by the technical staff at the Phil M. Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory and the following graduate research assistants at the University of Texas at Austin: Georgios Moutsanidis, Lindsay A. Hull, and Umit C. Oksuz.
References
AISC. (2010). “Specification for structural steel buildings.” AISC 360-10, Chicago.
Alashker, Y., and El-Tawil, S. (2011). “A design-oriented model for the collapse resistance of composite floors subjected to column loss.” J. Constr. Steel Res., 67(1), 84–92.
Alashker, Y., El-Tawil, S., and Sadek, F. H. (2010). “Progressive collapse resistance of steel-concrete composite floors.” J. Struct. Eng., 1187–1196.
Alashker, Y., Li, H., and El-Tawil, S. (2011). “Approximations in progressive collapse modeling.” J. Struct. Eng., 914–924.
ASCE. (2010). “Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures.” ASCE/SEI 7-10, Reston, VA.
ASTM. (2014a). “Standard specification for carbon structural steel.” ASTM A36/36M-14, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2014b). “Standard specification for structural bolts, steel, heat treated, 120/105 ksi minimum tensile strength.” ASTM A325-14, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2015a). “Standard specification for steel sheet, zinc-coated (galvanized) or zinc-iron alloy-coated (galvannealed) by the hot-dip process.” ASTM A653/A653M-15e2, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2015b). “Standard specification for structural steel shapes.” ASTM A992/A992M-11, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bailey, C. G. (2001). “Membrane action of unrestrained lightly reinforced concrete slabs at large displacements.” Eng. Struct., 23(5), 470–483.
Chen, J., Huang, X., Ma, R., and He, M. (2011). “Experimental study on the progressive collapse resistance of a two-storey steel moment-frame.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 567–575.
Daneshvar, H., and Driver, R. (2011). “Behavior of shear tab connections under column removal scenario.” Structures Congress 2011, ASCE, Reston, VA, 2905–2916.
DoD (Department of Defense). (2013). “Design of buildings to resist progressive collapse.” UFC 4-023-03, Washington, DC.
Foley, C. M., Martin, K., and Schneeman, C. (2007). “Robustness in structural steel framing systems.” Final Rep., AISC, Chicago.
Griffiths, H., Pugsley, A., and Saunders, O. A. (1968). “Report of the inquiry into the collapse of flats at Ronan Point, Canning Town.” Ministry of Housing and Local Government, London.
Hoffman, S. T., and Fahnestock, L. A. (2011). “Behavior of multi-story steel buildings under dynamic column loss scenarios.” Steel Compos. Struct., 11(2), 149–168.
Hull, L. A. (2013). “Experimental testing of a steel gravity frame with a composite floor under interior column loss.” M.Sc. thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Johnson, E. S., Meissner, J. E., and Fahnestock, L. A. (2016). “Experimental behavior of a half-scale steel concrete composite floor system subjected to column removal scenarios.” J. Struct. Eng., 04015133.
Li, H., and El-Tawil, S. (2012). “Role of composite action in collapse resistance of steel frame buildings.” Structures Congress 2012, ASCE, Reston, VA, 225–234.
Moutsanidis, G. (2014). “Progressive collapse resistance of steel-framed structures with composite floor systems.” M.Sc. thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Sadek, F. H., El-Tawil, S., and Lew, H. S. (2008). “Robustness of composite floor systems with shear connections: Modeling, simulation, and evaluation.” J. Struct. Eng., 1717–1725.
Starossek, U. (2007). “Typology of progressive collapse.” Eng. Struct., 29(9), 2302–2307.
Tan, S., and Astaneh-Asl, A. (2003). “Cable-based retrofit of steel building floors to prevent progressive collapse.”, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA.
USGSA (U.S. General Services Administration) (2013). “Alternative path analysis & design guidelines for progressive collapse.” Washington, DC.
Vulcraft. (2008). “Vulcraft steel roof and floor deck.” Charlotte, NC.
Weigand, J., and Berman, J. (2013). “Integrity of steel single plate shear connections subjected to simulated column removal.” J. Struct. Eng., 04013114.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 2 • February 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 6, 2017
Accepted: Jun 30, 2017
Published online: Nov 17, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 17, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.