Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40996-020-00351-7

RESEARCH PAPER

Collapse Distribution Scenario in Seismic Progressive Collapse of RC

Buildings Caused by Internal Column Elimination
Somayyeh Karimiyan1

Received: 8 January 2019 / Accepted: 22 January 2020

© Shiraz University 2020

Abstract
Prediction of the safety margin in the buildings against the progressive collapse mechanism due to the earthquake loads is a
significant issue in the structural and earthquake engineering. In this paper, modeling of the collapse distribution and propa-
gation in the structural elements, one after another, is investigated by tracking down the collapsed locations among the beam
and column structural elements in the moment-resisting reinforced concrete short buildings, and the effects of the column
removal are studied on the expansion and development of the progressive collapse due to the earthquake loads. A three-story
reinforced concrete building designed with ordinary moment frames is modeled, and potential of the progressive collapse
mechanism due to the internal column removal is studied using the results of nonlinear time history analyses in the presence
of the two-component ground motion records proposed by FEMA_P695. According to the results, some approaches and
proposals are presented to seismic optimization of the reinforced concrete short buildings against the progressive collapse
mechanism. Also, a collapse distribution pattern is introduced to predict the progressive collapse propagation scenario due
to the earthquake loads and the internal column removal.

Keywords  Progressive collapse · Collapse distribution · Reinforced concrete (RC) building · Internal column elimination ·
Nonlinear time history analysis

1 Introduction potential due to the explosions, terrorist attacks, vehicle col-

Progressive collapse is a partial and initial failure, which
leads to the collapse of an entire structure, or large parts of
the one, in such a way that the final destruction is much big-
ger than the initial failure. This mechanism can occur due
to every threat or loading such as bomb or gas explosions,
collision with a ship or aircraft, earthquakes, fires, accidental
overload, etc.
Advancement in the structural design and analysis tech-
niques and development of performance-based design con-
cepts besides structural collapse observations caused by
natural and abnormal events have led researchers to review
the structural behavior in abnormal conditions, which has
not been considered in the usual designs.
Recent research demonstrated that the most progres-
sive collapse studies have investigated progressive collapse
* Somayyeh Karimiyan
s_Karimiyan@iiau.ac.ir
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Islamshahr Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Eslamshahr, Iran
lisions and accidental overloads, and since most countries
are located in the seismic regions, the progressive collapse
mechanism due to the earthquakes has not been considered
in the current studies, yet. Furthermore, the majority of tra-
ditional and old buildings all over the world are relatively
short buildings and are without any seismic design consid-
erations. Therefore, in this study, the progressive collapse
caused by the earthquake loads has been studied in short RC
building, which is designed with ordinary moment frame.
In the last decades, regarding the importance of progres-
sive collapse mechanism, guidelines and codes have also
considered the progressive collapse issue. Griffiths and the
British Building Standard Institute (HSMO) presented the
first research to explain the progressive collapse mechanism
in 1968 (Griffith et al. 1968). Then, Feralian investigated
the variations in BS and Canadian codes in 1972 (Ferahian
Ramzi 1972).
Following many terrorist attacks that occurred over the
past years in different countries, many reviews, revisions
and terminology related to the progressive collapse in vari-
ous codes and guidelines such as GSA2003 BS59502001

13
Vol.:(0123456789)

and ODPM200 have been considered. However, some of
the added features in these regulations are not standard
(David et al. 2002). Moreover, in UFC, different meth-
ods such as the specific local resistance (SLR) method,
the alternate path (AP) method and tie force (TF) method
have been introduced to resist against the progressive col-
lapse potential of the buildings. Using mentioned methods
leads to increase in the degree of uncertainty, resistance,
ductility and integrity of the structural elements, and sub-
sequently, the probability of progressive collapse mecha-
nism in the structures will be reduced (Unified Facilities
Criteria (UFC) 2008).
Lu et al. (2008a, b) simulated the progressive collapse
mechanism due to the earthquake loads in the frames and
the shear walls of the RC structures. In this research, the
cyclic behavior of structural elements due to the shear force
and coupled axial force–bending moment, the collapse of
the structural members at ultimate states and the collision
between the beam and column elements during the collapse
were studied using the fiber elements and multilayer shell
element models (Lu et al. 2008a, b).
In 2012, the alternative load path method was used to
investigate the progressive collapse potential of the struc-
tural systems and the general stability of the moment frames
and nonmoment frames was evaluated against the earthquake
loads. Results showed that the general response evaluation of
the structures is necessary to investigate the progressive col-
lapse mechanism and the progressive collapse potential of
the structures should be evaluated due to the seismic loads,
impact and the explosion (Ettouney et al. 2012).
In 2012, progressive collapse resistance of the struc-
tures was evaluated by comparing and studying the collapse
mechanism caused by the explosion and earthquake loads in
accordance with the proposed procedures in GSA guidelines.
According to the results, damage caused by the both explo-
sion and the earthquake loads demonstrated that the struc-
tural elements have been eliminated from the load-bearing
structural system. Also, it is important to investigate the pro-
gressive collapse mechanism against the earthquake loads
and to increase the progressive collapse resistance of the
structure; further, it is necessary to evaluate ductility in the
spans which include the removed columns (Gurley 2012).
Li and his colleges (2011) used the alternative load path
method to investigate the progressive collapse mechanism
in two types of integrated cast in situ slabs and noninte-
grated slabs with different seismic resistances. The results of
nonlinear time history analyses showed that the resistances
of all structural beams and columns elements contribute
against the progressive collapse mechanism and catenary
action increases the progressive collapse resistance in RC
buildings. Also, inadequacy of the lateral stiffness in the
columns makes the collapse distribution horizontal in the
all building stories (Li et al. 2011).
13
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
In 2016, in order to simulate the edge column removal,
Jian and Li used the finite element method and a static test to
investigate the progressive collapse potential of a reinforced
concrete frame due to the vertical displacement of an edge
column in an experimental 1/3 scale model. Investigation
of the failure modes demonstrated that the collapse occurs
in the adjacent beams and slabs of the removed column.
Also, first, larger catenary action and tensile membrane
action occur in the beams and slabs of the frames at the
large deformation. Finally, according to the experimen-
tal and computational results, a simplified computational
method was proposed to investigate the catenary action and
the tensile membrane action in the frames including an edge
column removal (Hou and Song 2016).
Lin et al. (2016) studied the progressive collapse poten-
tial of the six-story seismic designed reinforced concrete
buildings. Fragility curves analyses and the failure modes
evaluations indicated that in structures which are designed
against the progressive collapse, without any seismic design,
undesirable failure modes such as strong beam and weak
column occur in the presence of the earthquake load, and
subsequently, seismic redesign of the structure will be nec-
essary. Therefore, a comprehensive and integrated design
approach is necessary to resist the progressive collapse and
the earthquake loads. However, the progressive collapse
potential in the seismic designed structures is lower than
the other structures (Lin et al. 2016).
Usefi et al. (2016) compared the progressive collapse
mechanism in two experimental and finite element meth-
ods in the reinforced concrete structures. The qualitative
comparison of the results indicated that there is a good
agreement between the experimental results and the results
obtained from the finite element method. Also, the numeri-
cal comparison of the results shows that the finite element
method is capable of estimating and predicting the progres-
sive collapse scenario in the reinforced concrete structures
(Usefi et al. 2016).
Ibrahim et al. (2017) compared the progressive collapse
mechanism in four-story reinforced concrete buildings due
to the explosion load. Results showed that the type of the
column cross section is determinative and important to
increase the structural progressive collapse resistance. Also,
the variations in design of the outer columns, especially the
use of steel pipe sections which are filled with the concrete,
increase the progressive collapse resistance of the structures
(Ibrahim et al. 2017).
Balasaraswathi and Ramakrishna (2017) studied the
progressive collapse mechanism due to the removal of the
columns which were located in the corner, edge and middle
of the asymmetric reinforced concrete buildings according
to GSA guidelines. The results illustrated that among the
elimination states of the column, amount of the progressive
collapse in the middle column removal state is more than the
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
other scenarios. Also, the collapse has been randomly dis-
tributed in the beams of the geometric asymmetric buildings
and, finally, an alternate path method has been proposed to
increase the progressive collapse resistance (Balasaraswathi
and Ramakrishna 2017).
Progressive collapse mechanism of a four-story rein-
forced concrete structure, designed according to the Japa-
nese seismic design code, was investigated in the full-scale
shaking table experimental tests due to the earthquake loads.
Results showed that a relatively intensive collapse occurs
at the shear walls and beam–column joints in comparison
with the other structural elements, and while presenting a
practical design to increase the seismic progressive collapse
resistance, an appropriate thoughtful consideration of the
progressive collapse mechanism in the reinforced concrete
structures during the strong earthquake loads is provided
(Yenidogan et al. 2018).
Rucha and Magarpatil (2017) investigated the progres-
sive collapse potential of the 12-story reinforced concrete
tall buildings due to the column removal in accordance with
the GSA guidelines. These buildings have six bays in direc-
tion X, five bays in direction Y, with a span of 3 m center
to center and are designed in accordance with Indian codes.
The results of nonlinear static analyses demonstrated that
the damage due to the middle column removal is more than
that of the corner and edge column removals (Rucha and
Magarpatil 2017). Soleymani and Esfahani (2018) studied
the effects of the concrete strength, slab thickness and mem-
brane action of the slab to decrease the progressive collapse
potential of the structures due to the middle column removal.
Results showed that the membrane action of the slab, which
is usually not considered in the design, can considerably
increase the progressive collapse resistance of the structure.
Also, by increasing the concrete strength and the slab thick-
ness from the minimum values recommended in the codes,
the progressive collapse potential of the structures signifi-
cantly reduces due to the middle column removal (Soley-
mani and Esfahani 2018).
There are many other researches in the field of the pro-
gressive collapse potential due to the impact, blast (Talaat
and Mosalam 2009; Khandelwala et al. 2009; Bažant and
Verdure 2007; El-Tawil et  al. 2007; Ibarra et  al. 2005;
Havaei and Bayat 2018) and the earthquakes (Karimiyan
et al. 2013a, b, c; Karimiyan et al. 2014a, b, c; Karimiyan
and Moghadam 2013; Moghadam and Karimiyan 2014a,
b, c).
However, the progressive collapse mechanism due to
the column removal and the earthquake loads has not been
studied, yet.
Stephen et al. (2019) reviewed the approaches presented
in GSA guideline. They investigated the influence of col-
umn removal time on the response of the structural systems
in progressive collapse mechanism of the buildings. For a
better and more accurate simulation of the sudden column
removal, various numerical methods were compared to study
the influence of rising time of sudden column removal on the
structural response in the progressive collapse mechanism
(Stephen et al. 2019). There are numerous studies in the
field of retrofitting various structural systems against the
progressive collapse mechanism by which researchers have
proposed different numerical methods and experimental
approaches to reinforce and retrofit various types of struc-
tures (Charhate et al. 2018; Li et al. 2019; Shirinzadeh and
Haghollahi 2019; Gholamreza and Reza 2017; Kheyroddin
and Naderpour 2008; Haji et al. 2019).
To follow above studies, in this paper, to investigate the
progressive collapse mechanism of the reinforced concrete
short buildings, a three-story structure has been considered.
Then, the progressive collapse mechanism and the collapse
distribution from the first element to the collapse of a large
part of the structure or structural system instability have
been studied by comparing the results of nonlinear time
history analyses due to the middle column removal in the
ground floor in the presence of the proposed earthquakes in
FEMA_P695. The innovation of this research is to determine
the progressive collapse distribution pattern and predict the
progressive collapse mechanism in RC short buildings due
to the middle column removal and the earthquake loads.
So, with the prediction of the structural weaknesses, some
retrofit procedures are suggested to enhance the progressive
collapse resistance of the similar structural systems.
In this paper, the modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler
deterioration model (IMK) is used to model the collapse
distribution in the beam and column structural elements in
the progressive collapse mechanism (FEMA 2009).
2 The Reference Structure
The basic model considered in this study is a three-story
symmetric RC ordinary moment frame structure, with three
bays with a span of 5 m center to center, in both directions
X and Z. Height of the stories is 3.5 m, and the stories are
designed according to ACI318-14. Dead load and live load
have been considered as 5.3 KN/m2 and 1.96 KN/m2, respec-
tively. The base shear factor is 0.216. The parameter Fc has
been considered in the present study to be equal to 28 MPa.
The characteristics of this structure have been considered in
such a way that the results of this research can be general-
ized for a wide range of three-story usual short buildings.
It is worth noting that in this structural model, infill effects
have not been taken into consideration. In this research, the
middle column in the ground floor has been eliminated to
investigate the progressive collapse potential of the struc-
tures. Figure 1 shows the 3D view of the model in this study.
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 Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
Three-story ordinary moment-resisting RC building has
been used in the present study, because as we know, there
are many traditional and old buildings all over the world
which are low-rise buildings, and the progressive collapse
mechanism of such buildings has not been studied yet.
Removal of the corner and edge columns in the buildings
is under study and will be discussed in the future articles.
Earthquake engineering requires the reliable nonlinear
models, which are able to simulate the nonlinear behavior
of the structure from the beginning of damage to total col-
lapse of the structure. It is very important to use an appro-
priate nonlinear behavioral model to simulate the collapse
in the structure, in such a way that it is possible to model
the collapse distribution in a step-by-step procedure.
Fig. 1  Three-dimensional view
of the structural model
Fig. 2  Modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler deterioration model (FEMA 2009; Ibarra et al. 2005; Haselton and Deierlein 2007; Haselton et al.
2008; Zareian et al. 2009; Zareian and Medina 2010)
13
In this paper, a modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler
deterioration model has been used to model the col-
lapse of RC structures. Figure  2 shows the modified
Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler deterioration model. This
model enables us to simulate the strain-softening behav-
ior associated with rebar buckling, concrete crushing and
bond failure or fracture (FEMA 2009).
The reason for the use of plastic hinges instead of the
fiber elements is that the models with the fiber elements
cannot simulate the strain softening associated with the
rebar buckling. Therefore, fiber elements are not capable
of simulating the flexural collapse of the reinforced con-
crete frames (FEMA 2009; Ibarra et al. 2005; Haselton
and Deierlein 2007).
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
As shown in Fig. 2, the parameter κ should be considered to
be zero to simulate the structural collapse. Also, according to
monotonic component of the modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawin-
kler deterioration model, illustrated in Fig. 3, the zero resist-
ance corresponds to the value of 𝜃𝐮 . That means that as soon
as the value of 𝜃𝐮 attains a value of 𝜃𝐮 , hinge resistance would
be equal to zero and therefore the relevant beam or column
element is efficiently omitted from the structural system. There-
fore, during the nonlinear time history analyses, as soon as the
value of 𝜃𝐮 for a concentrated hinge attains its corresponding
calculated value of 𝜃𝐮 , the relevant structural element is auto-
matically omitted from the structural systems and the nonlinear
time history analysis continues in the residual structural system
as long as the structure becomes unstable. This means that the
progressive collapse mechanism and collapse distribution in the
structure continue until the occurrence of the collapse in a large
part of the structure or structural system instability in terms of
the numerical calculations.
Thus, progressive collapse mechanism in the structure is
simulated in the structural elements of a building, one after
another. It is worth noting that 𝜃𝐮 is computed based on the
modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler deterioration model for
each concentrated hinge. Also, in the present study, a con-
centrated hinge is considered as a collapsed one if its rotation
value exceeds the ultimate value of θu. This means that load-
bearing capacity of the hinge has reached the value of zero.
It should be noted that two concentrated hinges have been
considered at both ends of all beam and column elements in
the structural model.
Previous studies demonstrate that the only behavioral
model to simulate step-by-step collapse in the beam and
column structural member for modeling the progressive
collapse mechanism is modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler
nonlinear model (FEMA 2009).
Fig. 3  Monotonic and hysteretic behavior of modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler model used for the concentrated hinges in the present study
(FEMA 2009; Ibarra et al. 2005; Haselton and Deierlein 2007; Haselton et al. 2008; Zareian et al. 2009; Zareian and Medina 2010)
The af forded model is t he Modif ied
Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler deterioration model used for
modeling the progressive collapse distribution in the struc-
tural members of RC buildings (FEMA 2009). The hyster-
esis curve has been calibrated by the creators of the model
based on hundreds of experimental tests in RC structures
(FEMA 2009; Ibarra et al. 2005; Haselton and Deierlein
2007; Ibarra Luis and Krawinkler 2004; Ibarra Luis 2005;
Lignos 2008; Haselton et al. 2009, 2008; Zareian et al. 2009;
Zareian and Medina 2010; Lignos et al. 2008; Krawinkler
et al. 2009). Therefore, the uneven shape of the curve is
derived from the results of the mentioned experimental tests.
The current research has been inspired by the aforemen-
tioned studies. Moreover, the nonlinear model has been pre-
viously used by researchers in two-dimensional structural
models (Haselton and Deierlein 2007; Haselton et al. 2008,
2009; Lignos et al. 2008; Krawinkler et al. 2009). With this
support, the analysis is extended to deal with the case of
three-dimensional structural models.
With this justification that I have used the nonlinear
hysteresis model which has been utilized by a number of
researches and has preserved the conditions of three-dimen-
sional structures, I ensure the validity of the current results.
Besides, the previous research results have been considered
as a foundation for comparison and control and verifying the
accuracy of the numerical results.
According to Fig. 3, collapse prevention performance
level has been considered in the present study to define col-
lapse criterion for a hinge. That is why this process is called
the collapse propagation, not damage propagation. Based
on Fig. 3, it is worth mentioning that there are many con-
centrated plastic hinges on the beam and column structural
elements, which exceeded θy and θcap and have not been con-
sidered as the collapsed hinges (they can be considered as
the damaged hinges).
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 Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

Then, nonlinear time history analyses were performed
using two-component earthquake records proposed in FEMA_
P695, Table A-4C, as shown in Table 1 (FEMA 2009).
FEMA_P695 has introduced several far-field and near-
field earthquake records to investigate the structural collapse
and also progressive collapse mechanism and has recom-
mended that researchers use them in their researches. These
aforementioned records have been studied extensively in the
field of collapse analyses. In addition, the researchers whose
studies have been the basis of the validation of the present
study have used the far-field earthquake records; in the same
way, far-field records have been used to study the progres-
sive collapse in the present study.
As the aim of this study is to investigate the trend of pro-
gressive collapse distribution in the sample model, all above-
mentioned earthquake records were normalized to PGA lev-
els of 1–1.5 g to exert the severe effects of the earthquake
loads on the structure, causing the collapse of the beam and
column elements, one after another and thus increasing the
collapse probability in the entire structure (Stephen et al.
2019). All earthquake records were applied to the struc-
ture in both horizontal directions X and Z, and OpenSees
software (version 2.2.2) was used to run the nonlinear time
history analyses. Pseudo-acceleration spectrum of the earth-
quake records is demonstrated in Fig. 4a, b.
3 Progressive Collapse Distributions Study
To assess the trend of collapse distribution in progressive
collapse mechanism, collapse distribution scenarios have
been investigated according to the results of the nonlinear
time history analyses in the presence of the two-compo-
nent earthquake records proposed in FEMA P695, in such
a way that the sequence of collapse has been followed
from the first beam or column element to the other struc-
tural elements, one after another, till the structural system
becomes unstable or the nonlinear time history analyses
are completed. Consequently, progressive collapse scenar-
ios are presented and the critical beam and column ele-
ments are recognized. Results showed that collapse initial
points and critical structural elements are repetitive and
the trends of collapse distributions are similar due to the
majority of earthquake records. Therefore, critical struc-
tural elements and the sequences of the collapse propaga-
tions are predictable in three-story similar RC buildings

Table 1  Summary of the used PEER-NGA database of recorded far-field ground motions (FEMA 2009)
ID no. PEER-NGA record information Recorded motions
Records seq. no. Lowest freq The names of horizontal record PGA max (g) PGV
(Hz) max
Component 1 Component 2 (cm/s)

1 953 0.25 NORTHR/MUL009 NORTHR/MUL279 0.52 63

2 960 0.13 NORTHR/LOS000 NORTHR/LOS270 0.48 45
3 1602 0.06 DUZCE/BOL000 DUZCE/BOL090 0.82 62
4 1787 0.04 HECTOR/HEC000 HECTOR/HEC090 0.34 42
5 169 0.06 IMPVALL/H-DLT262 IMPVALL/H-DLT352 0.35 33
6 174 0.25 IMPVALL/H-E11140 IMPVALL/H-E11230 0.38 42
7 1111 0.13 KOBE/NIS000 KOBE/NIS090 0.51 37
8 1116 0.13 KOBE/SHI000 KOBE/SHI090 0.24 38
9 1158 0.24 KOCAELI/DZC180 KOCAELI/DZC270 0.36 59
10 1148 0.09 KOCAELI/ARC000 KOCAELI/ARC090 0.22 40
11 900 0.07 LANDERS/YER270 LANDERS/YER360 0.24 52
12 848 0.13 LANDERS/CLW-LN LANDERS/CLW-TR 0.42 42
13 752 0.13 LOMAP/CAP000 LOMAP/CAP090 0.53 35
14 767 0.13 LOMAP/G03000 LOMAP/G03090 0.56 45
15 1633 0.13 MANJIL/ABBAR–L MANJIL/ABBAR—T 0.51 54
16 721 0.13 SUPERST/B-ICC000 SUPERST/B-ICC090 0.36 46
17 725 0.25 SUPERST/B-POE270 SUPERST/B-POE360 0.45 36
18 829 0.07 CAPEMEND/RIO270 CAPEMEND/RIO360 0.55 44
19 1244 0.05 CHICHI/CHY101-E CHICHI/CHY101-N 0.44 115
20 1485 0.05 CHICHI/TCU045-E CHICHI/TCU045-N 0.51 39
21 68 0.25 SFERN/PEL090 SFERN/PEL180 0.21 19
22 125 0.13 FRIULI/A-TMZ000 FRIULI/A-TMZ270 0.35 31

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

68
25 125
169
174
Pseudo Acceleration (m/s2) 721
20 725
752
767
829
15 848
900
953
960
10 1111
1116
1148
5 1158
1244
1485
1602
0 1633
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 1787

T (sec)
(a) X directional components

25 125
68
169
174
Pseudo Acceleration (m/s2)

20 721
725
752
767
15 829
848
900
953
10 960
1111
1116
5 1148
1158
1244
1485
0 1602
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 1633

T (sec )
(b) Z directional components

Fig. 4  Pseudo-acceleration spectra of the 22 ground motion records, a X-directional components and b Z-directional components

due to the middle column removal in the ground floor.
For example, the sequences of the occurred collapse in
the concentrated hinges in the presence of the earthquake
records #953, #960, #1111, #1116, #1148 and #1158 are
shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, respectively.
As Fig. 5 shows, in the presence of the earthquake record
#953 in a three-story building, collapse initiated point or
formation of the first concentrated hinge occurs in the lateral
beam, above the removed middle column in the third ceiling.
Thereafter, the collapse hinges occur in the beams of the first
and second ceilings, in the upper and the lateral sides of the
removed column and eventually, the collapse is transferred
to the other beams of the third story. Therefore, progressive
collapse distribution vertically occurs around the removed
middle column.
According to Fig. 6, in the presence of the earthquake
record #960, collapse initiates from the lateral beam, above
the removed column in the first ceiling. Then, it is distrib-
uted in the lateral beams of the second ceiling, above the
removed column, and finally, it is propagated in the third
story. In other words, collapse propagation is vertically in
height of the structure from the bottom to top, around the
removed column, which is eventually propagated in the third
story.
Based on Fig. 7, due to the middle column removal in a
three-story building in the presence of the earthquake record
#1111, like the previous ones, the beginning of the collapse

13

Fig. 5  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #953
Fig. 6  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #960
is in the lateral beam of the first ceiling, above the removed
column. Then, collapse continues in the lateral beams of the
second, third and first ceilings, above the removed column,
and finally it is expanded in the third story. Therefore, pro-
gressive collapse mechanism vertically occurs around the
removed column from bottom to top, along the height of
the structure, and also the majority of collapse hinges are
in the third story.
In Fig. 8, in the three-story structure due to the middle
column removal in the ground floor under earthquake record
#1116, the start of the collapse is in the lateral beams of the
third and first ceilings, above the removed column. Then, the
collapse continues in the lateral beams, above the removed
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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
column in the second ceiling and finally is distributed in
the third story. Once again, the distribution of the collapse
hinges is vertically from bottom to the top of the structure
and also the majority of collapse hinges are in the removed
column area.
In Fig. 9, due to the middle column removal in the ground
floor in the presence of the earthquake record #1148, the
starting points of the collapse occur at the top of the removed
column, in the lateral beams of the third and first ceilings
simultaneously and then collapse is transferred in the lateral
beams of the second ceiling. Then, the collapse distribution
process continues in the beam elements of the third ceiling
and eventually it will be transferred to the column elements
Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

Fig. 7  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #1111

Fig. 8  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #1116

of the three stories from bottom to top. Here, more plastic
hinges are formed in the columns. However, the formation
of collapse hinges in the columns does not follow a specific
pattern.
According to Fig. 10, in the three-story structure, due
to the middle column removal in the ground floor in the
presence of the earthquake record #1158, the beginning
points of the collapse simultaneously occur at the top of
the removed column, in the lateral beams of the first, sec-
ond and third ceilings and then collapse is distributed in
the lateral beams of the three ceilings, above the removed
column. Then, the collapse distribution continues in the
base columns and the beams of the third ceiling, and
eventually, it is propagated in the other elements of the
three stories, without any specific patterns. According to
Fig. 10, the starting points of the collapse and the primary
collapse distribution are more around the removed column
and also the collapse is vertically distributed along the
height of the structure.
With respect to distribution patterns of the progressive
collapse, as observed from Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 to 10, in the
structural beam and column elements of the three-story
structure, resulting from the middle column removal in
the first story, it can be seen that the collapse is distributed

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 Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering

Fig. 9  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #1148

Fig. 10  Progressive collapse
distribution due to the middle
column removal in the presence
of ground motion record #1158

mostly around the removed column, along the height of the
structure from bottom to top.
According to the results, progressive collapse distribu-
tion is independent of the ground motion records. Also,
the progressive collapse distribution follows a special pat-
tern in the symmetric structures due to the middle column
removal in the first story. That is, collapse starting points
and the collapse distribution process are possible to be
predicted for other similar structures.
Collapse distribution patterns obtained from the nonlin-
ear time history analyses under other earthquake records
proposed in FEMA P695 show that the collapse mostly
initiates from the top of the removed column in the first
ceiling and then it is propagated in the beams which are
connected to the removed column in the first ceiling or in
the corresponding beams in upper stories, and eventually,
it is distributed in other structural elements.
The collapse distribution patterns due to the middle
column removal in the first story show that the collapse

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering
occurrence in the early stages of the collapse distribution
is potentially in the beams around the removed column
location. Therefore, as a design approach for the structural
design against the progressive collapse mechanism, tie force
method can be used to reinforce the beams connected to
the weak columns, which are more eligible to be eliminated
from the structural system during the earthquakes.
According to the results, the collapse distribution in the
structure is around the removed column location, vertically
along the height of the structure, mostly from the bottom to
top and then horizontally in the stories. For this purpose,
alternative path method is proposed as a design approach
to increase the progressive collapse resistance, so that AP
method should be considered vertically to design the struc-
tures against the progressive collapse mechanism.
4 Conclusion
• Progressive collapse mechanism and collapse distribution
are independent of the ground motion records.
• During earthquakes, progressive collapse distribution fol-
lows a special pattern due to the middle column removal
in the similar structures.
• In a three-story structure, resulting from the middle col-
umn removal, collapse is initially distributed in the upper
beams of the removed column and then vertically propa-
gated along the height of the structure from bottom to top
in other structural elements.
• According to the observed collapse distributions in three-
story buildings due to the middle column removal of the
first story, in the presence of the earthquake loads, the
collapse occurrence in the early stages of collapse dis-
tribution is possibly in the beams around and above the
removed column location. Therefore, tie force method is
suggested as a design approach to reinforce the beams
connected to the weak columns, which are eligible to be
eliminated from the structural system during the earth-
quakes.
• In three-story buildings, collapse first occurs around the
removed column location, vertically along the height of
the structure and mostly from the first ceiling to top of
the structure and then is propagated horizontally in the
stories. Here, alternative load path method is recom-
mended as a design approach to enhance the progressive
collapse resistance, such that the alternative paths can be
vertically considered along the height of the structure.
• For future research direction, investigation of our
research outcomes is worth being considered in practice
via conducting experimental test to find out how accurate
and aligned the behavior of the modeling with the reality
in practice is.
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