Progressive Collapse Resistance of Two Typical High-Rise RC Frame Shear Wall Structures

Existing research on progressive collapse of building structures mainly focuses on concrete and steel frame structures. To investigate the progressive collapse resistance of high-rise RC frame shear wall structures, two typical 15-story building models are designed with equivalent overall lateral resistance to seismic actions. However, the structural layouts in resisting the lateral forces are quite different for the two buildings. Building A is a weak wall-strong frame structure, whereas building B is a strong wall-weak frame system. Three-dimensional (3D) finite-element models of the two structures are established using fiber beam and multilayer shell elements. The progressive collapse resistances of the frames and the shear walls in both structures are evaluated under various column (shear wall) removal scenarios. Results demonstrate that there is a difference in progressive collapse prevention performance for different structural layouts. The progressive collapse resistance tends to be inadequate for the strong wall-weak frame system. Such a system is subsequently redesigned using the linear static alternate path (AP) method proposed in GSA guideline, through which the reliability and efficiency of the method are confirmed. The outcome of this study has provided a reference for progressive collapse prevention designs of typical and representative high-rise RC frame shear wall structures.