Buildings 2012, 2(4), 497-518; doi:10.3390/buildings2040497
Article

Robustness Assessment of Building Structures under Explosion

Hamed Zolghadr Jahromi 1 email, Bassam A. Izzuddin 1,* email, David A. Nethercot 1 email, Sean Donahue 2 email, Michalis Hadjioannou 2 email, Eric B. Williamson 2 email, Michael Engelhardt 2 email, David Stevens 3 email, Kirk Marchand 3 email and Mark Waggoner 4 email
1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK 2 Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA 3 Protection Engineering Consultants, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA 4 Walter P Moore, Austin, TX 78701, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 7 October 2012; in revised form: 20 November 2012 / Accepted: 3 December 2012 / Published: 11 December 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Failures)
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Abstract: Over the past decade, much research has focused on the behaviour of structures following the failure of a key structural component. Particular attention has been given to sudden column loss, though questions remain as to whether this event-independent scenario is relevant to actual extreme events such as explosion. Few studies have been conducted to assess the performance of floor slabs above a failed column, and the computational tools used have not been validated against experimental results. The research program presented in this paper investigates the adequacy of sudden column loss as an idealisation of local damage caused by realistic explosion events, and extends prior work by combining the development of accurate computational models with large-scale testing of a typical floor system in a prototypical steel-framed structure. The floor system consists of corrugated decking topped by a lightly reinforced concrete slab that is connected to the floor beams through shear studs. The design is consistent with typical building practices in the US. The first test has been completed, and subsequent tests are currently being planned. This paper addresses the importance of robustness design for localized damage and includes a detailed description regarding how the research program advances the current state of knowledge for assessing robustness of compositely constructed steel-framed buildings.
Keywords: blast; explosion; sudden column loss; composite floor; slab; robustness; progressive collapse; finite element

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Zolghadr Jahromi, H.; Izzuddin, B.A.; Nethercot, D.A.; Donahue, S.; Hadjioannou, M.; Williamson, E.B.; Engelhardt, M.; Stevens, D.; Marchand, K.; Waggoner, M. Robustness Assessment of Building Structures under Explosion. Buildings 2012, 2, 497-518.

AMA Style

Zolghadr Jahromi H, Izzuddin BA, Nethercot DA, Donahue S, Hadjioannou M, Williamson EB, Engelhardt M, Stevens D, Marchand K, Waggoner M. Robustness Assessment of Building Structures under Explosion. Buildings. 2012; 2(4):497-518.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zolghadr Jahromi, Hamed; Izzuddin, Bassam A.; Nethercot, David A.; Donahue, Sean; Hadjioannou, Michalis; Williamson, Eric B.; Engelhardt, Michael; Stevens, David; Marchand, Kirk; Waggoner, Mark. 2012. "Robustness Assessment of Building Structures under Explosion." Buildings 2, no. 4: 497-518.

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