Progressive collapse vulnerability assessment of irregular voided buildings located in Seismic-Prone areas

Nowadays, many special architectural forms of voided buildings such as hotels, commercial complexes, etc. are constructed in famous cities. In this paper, the effects of opening in the volume of low- and mid-rise irregular voided structures with low to high seismic resistance on the progressive collapse vulnerability are investigated. The structures are three and nine stories high, seismically designed with a steel moment frame system based on the AISC seismic code, and are located in sites with high, moderate, and low levels of seismicity. Detailed three-dimensional nonlinear dynamic analysis is performed to investigate spatially distributed damage to frame members and the structural robustness against abnormal loads according to the GSA 2016 guidelines. The response quantities are expressed in the form of the displacement of the node above the removed column, the spatially distributed formation of plastic hinges, the stress growth in nearby columns after progressive collapse occurrence, and the connection robustness analysis. The results show moment connections that govern the robustness of the structure and they are the most critical components in the structure. In addition, larger openings and proximity of the column removal scenario to position of the opening play a significant role in reducing the progressive collapse vulnerability of voided structures. However, in the scenarios of removing the internal column away from the opening, the progressive collapse mechanism of the structures with or without opening does not differ. Therefore, in the structural robustness analysis, internal columns away from opening of the voided buildings should be considered as critical and controllable elements in the progressive collapse capacity of structures. Among the modeled buildings, only the buildings located in high seismic areas can pass progressive collapse analyses and the seismicity level of the site is the most important parameter in robustness of the structure in comparison with the height or irregularity of the structure. Increasing the height of structures also reduces the amount of stress growth in the columns adjacent to the demolished column and the taller structures are safer structures in this regard.