A simplified method for the dynamic analysis of structures under column loss

The progressive collapse of buildings as a dynamic phenomenon can be fully understood only within a transient dynamic analysis context considering for damping and inertia effects. The response of a typical beam-column substructure is usually dominated by a single mode of deformation, thus the single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) modelling assumption provides an accurate representation of the problem. In this study, the dynamic response of an inelastic SDOF system with damping was investigated analytically. Closed form analytical equations of the model were derived that describe the complete dynamic response in the time domain. Moreover, simplified formulae to estimate peak responses and Dynamic Increase Factors (DIFs) were provided. Numerical dynamic analyses in OpenSees were performed to verify the accuracy of the analytical model. The results indicate that the analytical model can trace the full dynamic response accurately while peak displacements can be accurately estimated with the proposed formulas. The estimated DIFs were in agreement with available from the literature results and demonstrate the significant effect of damping and hardening. Application of the analytical methodology on the progressive collapse analysis of a 10-storey steel frame demonstrated the effectiveness and potential of the proposed SDOF system.