Progressive Collapse Resistance of Hotel San Diego
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 3
Abstract
Progressive collapse resistance of an actual six-story reinforced concrete frame structure is evaluated following predefined initial damage. The initial damage was caused by the simultaneous explosion (removal) of two adjacent exterior columns, one of which was a corner column. The mechanism of load redistribution and change in column axial forces (strains) are discussed. In the structure studied, the development of bidirectional Vierendeel (frame) action is identified as a major mechanism in redistribution of loads. Through careful instrumentation, the change in the direction of beam bending moments in the vicinity of the removed columns is demonstrated. In general, if such a change in the bending moment direction results in high tensile stress in bottom beam reinforcement at the face of a column, brittle local failure in the absence of proper anchorage can occur. This failure did not take place in this building. The nearly century old structure, without satisfying integrity requirements, resisted progressive collapse with a recorded maximum vertical displacement of only .
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank Catherine K. Lee, Bela I. Palfalvi, and Mario Ramirez (General Services Administration) for funding of the study presented in this paper through GSA Contract No. UNSPECIFIEDGS09P06KTM0019. The help provided by Marlon Bazan during the experimental program and preparation of some of the figures is acknowledged. The writers greatly appreciate the support provided by Mark Loizeaux (Controlled Demolition Inc.); without his help this study could not have been completed. The help provided by the contractors Clauss Construction (Patrick M. Clauss, Malcolm Lee, and William Musbach) and Jacobs (Bill Zondorak) is also appreciated.
References
Allen, D. E., and Schriever, W. R. (1972). Progressive collapse, abnormal loads, and building codes, Division of Building Research, National Research Council, Québec.
American Concrete Institute (ACI). (2005). “Building code requirement for structural concrete.” ACI 318, Detroit.
ASCE/Structural Engineering Institute (SEI). (2005). Minimum design loads for buildings and other structures, ASCE/SEI 7, Reston, Va.
Breen, J. E. (1975). Research Workshop on Progressive Collapse of Building Structures, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, Tex., National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.
Corley, W. G. (2004). “Lesson learned on improving resistance of buildings to terrorist attacks.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 18(2), 68–78.
Corley, W. G., Mlakar, P. F., Sozen, M. A., and Thornton, C. H. (1998). “The Oklahoma City Bombing: Summary and recommendations for multihazard mitigation.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 12(3), 100–112.
Ellingwood, B., and Leyendecker, E. V. (1978). “Approaches for design against progressive collapse.” J. Struct. Div., 104(3), 413–423.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (1996). The Oklahoma City bombing: Improving building performance through multihazard mitigation, FEMA 277, Building Performance Assessment Team, Washington, D.C.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2000). Prestandard and commentary for the seismic rehabilitation of buildings, FEMA 356, Washington, D.C.
Klingner, R. E., and Bertero, V. V. (1978). “Earthquake resistance of infilled frames.” J. Struct. Div., 104(6), 973–989.
Mehrabi, A. B., Shing, P. B., Schuller, M. P., and Noland, J. L. (1996). “Experimental evaluation of masonry-infilled RC frames.” J. Struct. Eng., 122(3), 228–237.
Sasani, M., Bazan, M., and Sagiroglu, S. (2007). “Experimental and analytical progressive collapse evaluation of an actual RC structure.” ACI Struct. J., 104(6), 731–739.
Sasani, M., and Kropelnicki, J. (2007). “Progressive collapse analysis of an RC structure.” The structural design of tall buildings, Wiley, New York, in press.
Sozen, M. A., Thornton, C. H., Mlakar, P. F., and Corley, W. G. (1998). “The Oklahoma City Bombing: structure and mechanisms of the Murrah Building.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 12(3), 120–136.
Stafford Smith, B. (1962). “Lateral stiffness of infilled frames.” J. Struct. Div., 88(6), 183–199.
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). (2005). Design of building to resist progressive collapse, UFC 4-023-03, Unified Facility Criteria, Washington, D.C.
U.S. General Service Administration (GSA). (2003). Progressive collapse analysis and design guidelines for new federal office buildings and major modernization projects, Washington, D.C.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 3 • March 2008
Pages: 478 - 488
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Apr 27, 2007
Accepted: Jul 25, 2007
Published online: Mar 1, 2008
Published in print: Mar 2008
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: M. Asghar Bhatti
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.