A simplified approach for collapse assessment of multi-Storey steel framed-structures with one column loss

Abstract This paper provides a design-based framework in collapse assessment of multi-storey steel framed-structures. A simple approach for different column-removal scenarios of the structure is proposed, wherein the three-dimensional effects of the floor system, boundary restraints of the affected substructure and potential vierendeel actions in multi-storey framed-structures are incorporated. The effectiveness of the approach proposed is verified against numerical analyses on a full-scale steel frame with six-storey. Extensive discussions are also made from the comparisons between the results from the simplified approach and numerical simulations with finite element method (FEM). The proposed approach is found to sometimes give conservative evaluations for the column destabilizing-induced collapse of the structure, which ensures sufficient security in the robustness assessment of the structure. For the beam/connection failure-induced collapse, the proposed approach can obtain more reliable assessment conclusions.