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Jan 1, 2002
Why Did the World Trade Center Collapse?—Simple Analysis
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VIEW THE REPLYAuthors: Zdeněk P. Bažant, F.ASCE, and Yong ZhouAuthor Affiliations
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 128, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper presents a simplified approximate analysis of the overall collapse of the towers of World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. The analysis shows that if prolonged heating caused the majority of columns of a single floor to lose their load carrying capacity, the whole tower was doomed.
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References
American Media Specials. (2001). September, Boca Raton, Fla.
Bažant, Z. P., and Cedolin, L. (1991). Stability of structures: Elastic, inelastic, fracture and damage theories, Oxford University Press, New York.
Bažant, Z. P., and Kaplan, M. F. (1996). Concrete at high temperatures, Longman—Addison-Wesley, London.
Bažant, Z. P., and Planas, J. (1998). Fracture and size effect of concrete and other quasibrittle materials, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.
Jirásek, M., and Bažant, Z. P. (2002). Inelastic analysis of structures, Wiley, New York.
Levy, M., and Salvadori, M. (1992). Why buildings fall down, W. W. Norton, New York.
“Massive assault doomed towers.” (2001). Eng. News-Rec., 247(12), 10–13.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 128 • Issue 1 • January 2002
Pages: 2 - 6
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 19, 2001
Accepted: Oct 8, 2001
Published online: Jan 1, 2002
Published in print: Jan 2002
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Authors
Affiliations
Zdeněk P. Bažant, F.ASCE
Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil Engineering and Materials Science, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208.
Yong Zhou
Graduate Research Assistant, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208.
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ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.