Progressive Collapse Response of Linked Column Braced Frame System

Structural integrity is one of the most important key elements considered during the planning of structures. In general, live load, dead load, and wind load is considered and impact load is not taken into account while designing structures. The action of impact load on a building affects the structural performance severely and causes progressive collapse failure as reported in several case studies worldwide. Unified Facility Criteria [3] guideline recommends various methods to increase the progressive collapse resistance capacity of buildings. The alternate load path method (APM) is one of the methods recommended in the UFC 2016 guidelines. The present work focuses on the study of the effectiveness of APM by analyzing the progressive collapse response of concentrically framed systems having linked column-braced frames (LCBF). The system comprises of braced frame system coupled with the linked column. Inverted V braces are considered for the structural analysis. The result of Pushdown analysis from SAP 2000 shows that during impact, the damage to the structural system mainly occurs in link beams which are rapidly replaceable and system performance can be retrieved.