Experimental Study of Progressive Collapse Resistance of Reinforced Concrete Framed Structures

This paper presents the experimental results of two reinforced concrete (RC) frames subject to column loss scenario to investigate the development of membrane action and progressive collapse resistance. Two two-fifths-scale RC frames with three bays and two stories were built and tested under displacement-controlled push-down loading at the top of the missing column. The same geometry and longitudinal reinforcing ratio were used in each frame; however, the type of concrete (conventional and steel fiber-reinforced) and spacing of stirrups in the beams were different to assess the replacement of shear reinforcement with steel fibers. It was concluded that using discrete steel fibers in conjunction with reducing the number of beam stirrups does not significantly change the membrane behavior following column loss. However, there was better localized performance of the concrete for the case of steel fiber concrete, with fewer cracks within the joint zones and no spalling of concrete cover.