Numerical Analysis of Progressive Collapse of RC Frame under Blast Loading

Recently, the progressive collapse phenomenon of structures under blast loading has attracted great attention all over the world. Numerical analyses of progressive collapse of different structures have been carried out and great achievements have been accomplished. However, because of the simplification and assumption taken in the numerical analysis, current method in numerical analysis of structural progressive collapse might not give an accurate and reliable prediction of the process of structural progressive collapse. In this paper, the three dimensional model of frame structure with two spans and three storeys is set up with explicit dynamic analytical software LS-DYNA, the effects of initial damage and non-zero initial conditions of the structure member on the progressive collapse of reinforced concrete frame under blast loading are studied, the results of which are compared with the benchmark results and the results from GSA method. Based on the comparison and observation, an improved GSA method used in the analysis of progressive collapse of reinforced concrete (RC) frame is proposed, which can be used in the design of progressive collapse resistant reinforced concrete structures.