Australian Journal of Structural Engineering

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Analysis of steel special moment frames including

damaged column subjected to far and near-field
ground motions

Matin Hajikazemi , Benyamin Mohebi & Mehdi Montazeri-Pour

To cite this article: Matin Hajikazemi , Benyamin Mohebi & Mehdi Montazeri-Pour (2020)
Analysis of steel special moment frames including damaged column subjected to far and
near-field ground motions, Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, 21:3, 193-207, DOI:
10.1080/13287982.2020.1747148

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/13287982.2020.1747148

Published online: 09 Apr 2020.

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AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
2020, VOL. 21, NO. 3, 193–207
https://doi.org/10.1080/13287982.2020.1747148

ARTICLE

Analysis of steel special moment frames including damaged column subjected

to far and near-field ground motions
Matin Hajikazemia, Benyamin Mohebi a
and Mehdi Montazeri-Pour b

a
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran;
b
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Buein Zahra Technical University, Qazvin, Iran

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

In the present research, the performance of steel special moment frames having one damaged Received 3 April 2019
column designed based on seismic provisions has been evaluated during the progressive Accepted 15 March 2020
collapse under the ground motions. For this purpose, five- and ten-story two-dimensional KEYWORDS
steel frames with four bays have been modelled by utilising OpenSees software with and Steel special moment frame;
without considering a weak column. Moreover, nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses (IDA) damaged column;
have been carried out on the structures under far and near-field ground motions. In the case of progressive collapse;
the model with a weak column, the potential of progressive collapse has been assessed using earthquake
the Alternative Load Path Method recommended in the General Service Administration (GSA)
guideline. In this state, due to the defect in the implementation of column splice, the damaged
column represents a situation in which it is weak in terms of bending performance and
collapsed by the earthquake. Furthermore, the effect of floor number, weakness of column,
and the type of applied earthquake have been discussed. According to the obtained results,
a structure including one damaged column has a weaker performance in the near-field
compared with in the far-field ground motions before a progressive collapse.

1. Introduction
Progressive collapse is a kind of failure in which ultimate
collapse occurs more severely than the local damage
happened owing to the original cause (GSA 2003). The
causes of such progressive failures include the design or
implementation errors, fire, gas explosion, accidental
overload, vehicle accidents, and bomb explosion, etc.
Current standards of structural design for normal
loads usually provide a structural system with a degree
of strength and ductility that also stand against
extreme loads and progressive collapse. Old structures
which have been generally featured with small bays,
could naturally resist against progressive collapse
(Burnett 1975). Nowadays, due to the use of the struc-
tural system with large bays, which are light and duc-
tile, the risk of appearance of unusual loading
conditions has increased. Engineers’ attention was
gradually concentrated on this issue after the incident
of the progressive collapse of Ronan Point Building at
London in 1968. The aforementioned structure was
a 22-story building, which was made of prefabricated
panels. Due to the gas explosion in the kitchen on the
18th floor, the external wall of the building was thrown
out. The discontinuity between structural components
and the lack of an alternative path for carrying extra
load led to the total collapse in the upper and lower
floors. This event revealed new aspects of the design
for structures. It should be mentioned that after the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre (WTC)
and Pentagon, the study of the progressive collapse
was considered once again, which led to introduce
new design and analysis guidelines for progressive
collapse. The first guidelines were published by the
General Services Administration (GSA 2003) and the
United States Department of Defence (UFC 2005).
The most significant proposed design methods for
dealing with progressive collapse are as indirect design
and direct design methods.
In the indirect design method, the resistance of struc-
ture against progressive collapse is emphasised by the
determination of minimum levels of strength, continuity
and ductility for joints, members and materials. In addi-
tion, there are approaches presented for the total integrity
of the structure. It is noteworthy that the total structural
integrity means the satisfactory capability of a structure to
preserve the attachments on the damaged area and to
limit the initial damage. On the other hand, in the direct
design method, the resistance against progressive collapse
is directly considered in the design process. This method
itself includes the special local strengthening method and
alternative load path (ALP) method. The ALP approach
intends to provide an alternative path for the load after
failure in a way that prevents local damage and total
collapse. The analysis methods proposed by the guidelines
for the alternative load path approach are linear static,
linear dynamic, nonlinear static and nonlinear dynamic.

CONTACT Matin Hajikazemi matin.hajikazemi@yahoo.com

© 2020 Engineers Australia
194 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.
Kim and Kim (2009) studied the resistance capacity
of two- and three-dimensional moment steel frames
against progressive collapse using the alternative path
method recommended in GSA and Unified Facilities
Criteria (UFC) of US defence ministry. They found that
the progressive collapse occurs more likely by the elim-
ination of the side column and the probability of failure
is decreased with an increase in the number of floors.
Moreover, it is observed that the use of the linear
method could present a more conservative generalisa-
tion for the progressive collapse of the modelled struc-
tures. Wibowo and Lau (2009) studied the significance
of seismic load effects in the progressive collapse beha-
viour of structures, and concluded that seismic progres-
sive collapse could be analysed by modifying the current
analysis procedures. Khandelwal, El-Tawil, and Sadek
(2009) investigated the progressive collapse in steel
structures designed based on seismic regulations with
Special Convergent Braced Frame (SCBF) and
Eccentrically Braced Frame (EBF). Based on the
achieved results, they concluded that the possibility of
progressive collapse is less in EBF than SCBF.
Hayes et al. (2005) obtained a series of relationships
between seismic design and the strength against pro-
gressive collapse or explosion. They stated that
moment frame regulations, which have been devel-
oped for the region with high seismicity, could create
more resistance than non-strict details required for the
conventional moment frame.
Kim, Park, and Lee (2011b) studied the sensitivity
of design parameters including the yield strength of
beams, columns, and braces, live load, elastic modulus
and damping ratio in steel structures subjected to
progressive collapse. The analysis results demon-
strated that, among the design variables, beam yield
strength was ultimately the most important design
parameter in the moment-resisting frame buildings,
while the column yield strength was the most impor-
tant design parameter in the dual system buildings.
Evaluation of the performance of tilted or twisted tall
buildings demonstrated that the structures with more
structural elements show more resistance against pro-
gressive collapse (Kim and Hong 2011).
Naji and Irani (2012) presented a simplified analy-
sis procedure for the progressive collapse analysis of
steel structures using the load displacement and capa-
city curve of a fixed end steel beam. Finally, an explicit
expression for a dynamic increase factor was estab-
lished for elastic-perfectly plastic and elastoplastic
with catenary action behaviours.
Tavakoli and Rashidi Alashti (2013) examined the
strength of the steel moment frame designed based on
seismic regulations with a damaged column under seis-
mic loads. For this purpose, they analysed two- and
three-dimensional frames by the push-over method
using the ALP recommended in UFC and investigated
the effect of progressive collapse on the frames by con-
sidering different numbers of floors and bays, and change
in the situation of the eliminated element. The compar-
ison between load patterns indicated that the triangular
load pattern induced the least capacity curves for intact
and damaged structures. Furthermore, it was observed
that with the column removal of the first floor of the
structure designed seismically based on seismic regula-
tion, the structure could resist against progressive
collapse.
Kim and Park (2014) investigated the progressive
collapse capacity of the special truss frames. A design
procedure was developed based on the energy balance
concept to prevent progressive collapse. Jeyarajan,
Richard Liew, and Koh (2015) studied the robustness of
steel-concrete composite frames under sudden column
loss. Various lateral load resisting systems were
employed in analysing buildings against progressive col-
lapse. Their results demonstrated that simple braced
frames are more susceptible to the progressive collapse
compared with the moment resisting frames. Different
mitigation approaches were proposed to improve the
progressive collapse resistance of the simple braced
frames.
Samali et al. (2015) evaluated the influence of the
loading pattern and deck configuration on the pro-
gressive collapse response of cable-stayed bridges. It is
shown that localised yielding of steel may occur fol-
lowing the loss of more than one cable, however, such
localised plastic strains cannot trigger the progressive
collapse of the entire bridge.
Ferraioli (2019) developed a modal pushdown analy-
sis procedure for progressive collapse assessment of
multi-story steel frame buildings under the sudden
removal of a column due to catastrophic events. The
results implied that the modal pushdown procedure
gives accurate solution, accounting for both real plastic
deformation demand and catenary stiffening action in
steel beams.
The studies of progressive collapse have mainly
focused on preventing the problem of collapse caused
by abnormal gravity and blast loading (Elvira, Lam, and
Ngo 2006). However, the earthquake can eliminate
supports and expand progressive collapse in the whole
of the structure by creating lateral force and severe
reversal. A number of studies have been done recently
on the seismic progressive collapse of steel structures.
Tavakoli and Afrapoli (2018) presented the results from
the robustness analysis of steel structures with various
lateral load resisting systems under the seismic progres-
sive collapse. The results indicated that despite their
simplicity, the methods which are based on Stiffness
and Base Shear approaches, have lots of disadvantages.
But, the Energy method has better capabilities for
 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 195

understanding the behaviour of the structure under 2. Characteristics of near-field ground

seismic loads in the progressive collapse scenario. motions
Furthermore, structures which have bracing had
The ground motions near fault rupture are considerably
a better response in the progressive collapse scenario
different from far-field ground motions. In near-field
(Kim, Lee, and Choi 2011a).
earthquakes, due to the short distance between the loca-
Behnam, Shojaei, and Ronagh (2019) analysed
tion of fault and wave absorption position, there is no
the progressive collapse of tall structures under
enough time for high frequencies to be damped.
beam removal scenarios after the earthquake.
Therefore, their acceleration time history has high fre-
A 10 story steel moment resisting structure
quency content. Due to the fact that the records of
designed to meet the life safety level of perfor-
velocity and displacement have higher period than accel-
mance with different beam removal scenarios were
eration, they are in pulse shape with high periods, which
considered. The results showed that the upper stor-
could indicate the impulse excitation. The frequency of
ies are much more vulnerable under such scenarios
this pulse and also earthquake duration depend on the
than the lower stories.
orientation of the rupture. It is noteworthy that the
There is the fact that the performance of column
expansion of failure along the fault is called rupture
splice is usually ignored and there is insufficient attention
directivity. Directivity effects can be classified into the
paid to its implementation, while it can act as a weakness
forward, reverse and neutral groups (Singh 1985). Figure
during an earthquake. Therefore, herein, the progressive
1 shows three areas of directivity. In this figure, the
collapse behaviour of structural models with weak col-
marker star () and the solid line indicate the centre of
umn splice on the first floor has been examined under
the earthquake and the fault, respectively.
various seismic force coefficients. In this way, the alter-
The pulse-like motions could be generated by per-
native load path method proposed in GSA guideline has
manent displacement of the ground caused by surface
been utilised to determinate the possibility of progressive
rupture. Such pulses are totally different from those
collapse. The column removal method with seismic load
created by the directivity effect. Since the forward
has been adopted and the nonlinear incremental
directivity cannot usually create permanent displace-
dynamic analyses have been performed on the two-
ment, it is characterised by velocity record having the
dimensional steel special moment frames. Furthermore,
bi-directional pulse, while the fling step has the velo-
the effects of different types of seismic excitations includ-
city record with the one-sided pulse resulting in the
ing both far-field and near-field ground motions have
permanent displacement of the ground.
been considered.
The main aim of the current work is thus to exam-
ine the capability of steel structures including a weak 3. Analysis procedure
column designed based on AISC (American Institute
3.1. Progressive collapse acceptance criteria
of Steel Construction 2009), against progressive col-
lapse caused by seismic force. The results are exhibited For the nonlinear analysis procedures, UFC and GSA
as the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) curves, guidelines specify maximum plastic hinge rotation as
where the type of earthquake and the amount of weak- the acceptance criteria for progressive collapse. In
ness of the column are taken into consideration. addition to rotation criterion, GSA guideline also

Figure 1. Zones of directivity (Singh 1985).

196 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.

Table 1. Progressive collapse acceptance criteria (GSA 2003). Table 2. Earthquake events and recording station data for the
Component Ductility Rotation (rad) far-field record set (FEMA P695 2009).
Steel beams 20 0.21 Earthquake Recording Station
Steel columns 20 0.21 ID No. Magnitude Year Name Name Owner
1 7.1 1999 Hector Mine Hector SCSN
2 6.9 1995 Kobe, Japan Nishi-Akashi CUE
3 7.5 1999 Kocaeli, Turkey Arcelik KOERI
determines maximum acceptable ductility for struc- 4 7.4 1990 Manjil, Iran Abbar BHRC
tural members. Ductility is defined as the ratio of 5 7.6 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan TCU045 CWB
maximum displacement to elastic displacement at 6 6.5 1976 Friuli, Italy Tolmezzo ...

a reference point (e.g. the location in which

a column is removed). It should be mentioned that Table 3. Earthquake events and recording station data for the
nonlinear analysis methods are used to calculate dis- near-field record set (FEMA P695 2009).
placements. Table 1 lists the acceptable criteria for the Earthquake Recording Station
progressive collapse recommended in the GSA (2003). ID
No. Magnitude Year Name Name Owner
1 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta Saratoga- Aloha CDMG
2 7.0 1992 Cape Petrolia CDMG
3.2. Analysis of progressive collapse under Mendocino
seismic load 3 6.7 1994 Northridge-01 Sylmar-Olive CDMG
view
In this study, nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses 4 7.6 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan TCU102 CWB

have been used. In this approach, the amount of

damage in term of the excitation intensity of the
applied earthquake can be determined. In addition,
scaling of the acceleration record of previous earth-
quakes is utilised in the way that the behaviour of the
structure has been covered from the linear elastic state
to the collapse of the structure. It is assumed that
a critical column on the first floor has lost
a percentage of its bending capacity because of inap-
propriate design and implementation of column splice
and is dynamically eliminated from the model during
applying seismic force with various coefficients. The
increase in the earthquake scale factor has been con-
tinued to achieve the acceptable criteria mentioned in
the GSA guideline. It should be noted that the combi-
nation of the applied gravity load has been considered
as the sum of dead load and 25% of the live load.
3.3. Ground motion database
In order to attend the uncertainty of frequency content
and spectral shape of the earthquake, considering an
adequate number of earthquake records is necessary. In
this work, the records suggested in FEMA P695 (2009)
have been used for soil type 2 to select the earthquake
records required for nonlinear incremental dynamic ana-
lyses. Generally, 12 records for far-field ground motions
and 8 records for near-field ground motions with a strong
pulse are considered. The details of these earthquake
records have been shown in Tables 2 and 3. Each of
them has been scaled at several levels and the nonlinear
dynamic analyses have been carried out for each level.
4. Model structures
In order to perform the nonlinear incremental dynamic
analyses and column removal scenarios, five- and ten-
story 2-D steel frames with four bays have been
analysed by ETABS (ETABS 9.7.4) and then they mod-
elled by OpenSees programme (Mazzoni et al. 2006). It
is worth noting that the steel special moment frames are
designed based on AISC. Steel special moment resisting
frames passed all seismic criteria in terms of strength
and drift limitations. It is assumed that the structure has
been located at a high-risk seismic zone. The geometry
of the examined two dimensional (2-D) frames is illu-
strated in Figure 2. The sizes of beams and columns
designed by considering Fy = 240 MPa have been listed
in Tables 4 and 5. For modelling the behaviour of beam
and column, the concentrated plastic modulus is uti-
lised. The concentrated plastic model consists of an
elastic element in the middle with two concentrated
spiral springs at two ends. The considered hysteric
behaviour of the concentrated plastic model has been
developed by Lignos and Krawinkler (2011) known as
the modified Ibarra-Krawinkler model. For the purpose
of ALP analysis, beam-to-beam continuity is assumed
to be maintained across a removed column.
5. Incremental dynamic analyses without
weak column
While many quantities such as Moment Magnitude,
Duration, or Modified Mercalli Intensity have been
proposed to characterise the intensity of a ground
motion record, but it may not always be apparent how
to scale these measures, because they must be desig-
nated as non-scalable. The common example of scalable
intensity measures is the Peak Ground Acceleration
(PGA), Peak Ground Velocity, the ξ = 5% damped
Spectral Acceleration at the structure’s first-mode per-
iod (Sa(T1;5%)) (Vamvatsikos and Cornell 2002).
Herein, by performing nonlinear incremental dynamic
analyses (Vamvatsikos and Cornell 2002) on the
designed frames, the spectral acceleration (Sa(T1,5%))
 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 197

Figure 2. Geometry of five- and ten-story 2-D frames.

Table 4. Members’ sizes assigned to the model of five-story of Sa(T1,5%) and PGA have been depicted, respec-
frame. tively. Each of the curves represents the imposed
External Columns (Axis Internal Columns (Axis B1, demand on the five-story frame by the earthquake at
Story A1, E1) C1, D1) Beam
1 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 26
different intensity levels. As can be seen in the figures,
2 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 26 by applying different acceleration records, identical
3 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 26 models show dissimilar behaviours including the
4 W12 × 40 W14 × 48 W14 × 26
5 W12 × 40 W14 × 48 W12 × 19 moderate reduction in stiffness, softening, suddenly
instability of the structure, and oscillatory behaviour.
Figure 5 shows the column charts of intensity mea-
Table 5. Members’ sizes assigned to the model of ten-story
sures of Sa(T1,5%) and PGA at the performance levels
frame.
of life safety (Ls) and collapse prevention (Cp) in the
External Columns (Axis Internal Columns (Axis B1,
Story A1, E1) C1, D1) Beam five-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-
1 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38 field and near-field records. The means of these values
2 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38 are summarised in Table 6.
3 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38
4 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38 For the far-field records, the mean of Sa(T1,5%) is
5 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38 0.74 g at the performance level of life safety and 1.31 g
6 W14 × 68 W16 × 89 W14 × 38
7 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 34 at the performance level of collapse prevention.
8 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 34 Moreover, for the near-field records, the mean of Sa(T1,
9 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W14 × 34
10 W12 × 40 W14 × 61 W12 × 19 5%) is 0.73 g and 1.24 g at the performance levels of life
safety and collapse prevention, respectively. According to
these results, in the near-field zone the mean of Sa(T1,5%)
and PGA curves relative to the maximum inter-story at life safety and collapse prevention levels is respectively
drift ratio have been drawn for each record. In these 1.35% and 5.34% less than that in the far-field zone. To
curves, the damage measure for structural performance put it in another way, during an earthquake with iden-
is the maximum inter-story drift ratio that could pre- tical intensity, the drift of the structure is more at the
sent the general behaviour of the structure. Using the near-field zone in comparison to the far-field zone.
obtained results, the Sa(T1,5%) and PGA have been For the far-field records, the mean of PGA is 1 g
determined at the performance levels of life safety and and 1.8 g at the performance levels of life safety and
collapse prevention. Drifts of 2.5% and 5% have been collapse prevention, respectively. Furthermore, for the
considered corresponding to the performance levels of near-field records, the mean of PGA is 0.64 g and
life safety and collapse prevention, respectively (FEMA 1.11 g at the performance levels of life safety and
356 2000). collapse prevention, respectively. The results indicated
that in the near-field zone the mean of PGA at life
safety and collapse prevention levels is respectively
5.1. IDA curves of five-story frame
36% and 38.3% less than that in the far-field zone.
In Figures 3 and 4, the curves related to the five-story According to the obtained results, it is clear that the
frame subjected to far-field and near-field records by intensity measure of PGA reflects better the difference
considering two different types of intensity measures between the near and far-field records.
198 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-field records by considering intensity measure of
(a) Sa(T1,5%) and (b) PGA.

5.2. IDA curves of ten-story frame
The IDA curves for the ten-story frame have been
depicted in Figure 6 under far-field zone records up to
maximum inter-story drift ratio of 0.12. The mean of
the applied Sa(T1,5%) to the ten-story frame is 0.48 g at
the life safety performance level and 0.84 g at the col-
lapse prevention performance level. For the far-field
records, the mean of PGA is 1.27 g at the performance
level of life safety and 2.17 g at the performance level of
collapse prevention.
IDA curves related to the ten-story frame under
near-field zone records are illustrated in Figure 7. The
mean of Sa(T1,5%) applied to the ten-story frame is
0.46 g at the life safety performance level and 0.83 g at
the collapse prevention performance level. These values
have been decreased by 4.17% and 1.2%, respectively, in
comparison to those related to far-field zone records.
Moreover, for the near-field records, the mean of
PGA is 0.65 g and 1.12 g for the performance levels of
life safety and collapse prevention, respectively.
According to these results, in the near-field zone the
mean of PGA at life safety and collapse prevention
levels is respectively 49% and 48% less than that in the
far-field zone.
The column charts of intensity measures of Sa(T1,
5%) and PGA for the performance levels of life safety
(Ls) and collapse prevention (Cp) are displayed in
Figure 8 for the ten-story steel special moment frame
subjected to far-field and near-field records.
These results are summarised in Table 6. According
to the achieved results, it is clear that the intensity
measure of PGA reflects better the difference between
the near and far-field records.
In addition, the effect of the number of the story on
the obtained results was evaluated. It is observed that
under the same records, the values of Sa(T1,5%) for the
ten-story frame have been reduced compared to the
five-story frame. However, the values of PGA have
been increased with increasing the number of stories.
The reason can be attributed to the enhancement of
the first-mode period (T1) caused by an increase of
frame height and subsequent decline of the spectral
acceleration, whereas PGA is independent on the first-
mode period of the structure.
 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 199

(a)

(b)

Figure 4. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to near-field records by considering intensity measure
of (a) Sa(T1,5%) and (b) PGA.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 5. Values of intensity measures of Sa(T1,5%) and PGA at the performance levels of life safety (Ls) and collapse prevention
(Cp) in the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to (a, b) far-field records and (c, d) near-field records.

6. Structural response to column removal
After performing the nonlinear incremental
dynamic analysis on the frame with a weak col-
umn, the PGA curves for each step of dynamic
analysis have been depicted based on the maxi-
mum inter-story drift ratio. According to the dia-
grams, the first point of solid lines in the curves
represents the minimum scaling coefficient in
which the bending moment of the first floor
200 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.

Table 6. The mean values of intensity measures at the perfor- possible behaviour of the structure under the far-field
mance levels of life safety (Ls) and collapse prevention (Cp) in and the near-field zone earthquakes, the mean of max-
the five- and ten-story frames subjected to far-field and near- imum PGA, which is applied to the structure before
field records.
the progressive collapse, and the mean of drift corre-
far-field records near-field records
sponding to the maximum PGA have been calculated.
Ls Cp Ls Cp
five-story frame Sa(T1,5%) (g) 0.74 1.31 0.73 1.24
The mean of maximum PGA for the far-field zone
PGA (g) 1 1.8 0.64 1.11 records applied to the five-story frame before the
ten-story frame Sa(T1,5%) (g) 0.48 0.84 0.46 0.83 collapse is 0.298 g and the mean of drift corresponding
PGA (g) 1.27 2.17 0.65 1.12
to the applied PGA is 0.011. The mean of maximum
PGA for the near-field zone records is 0.188 g and the
mean of drift corresponding to the PGA is 0.013. By
column on the axis B reaches to its maximum
comparing the achieved results, it can be concluded
capacity and has been eliminated from the struc-
that in the far-field zone, the maximum PGA causing
ture. The damage criterion in IDA curves has been
the collapse of the structure is 37% more than that in
considered according to the criterion presented in
the near-field zone. These results are summarised in
the USA General Services Administration guide-
Table 7.
line. It should be noted that the diagrams have
To determine the effect of the amount of column
been depicted up to 0.21R rotation or ductility
splice weakness on the structural performance dur-
of 20.
ing the progressive collapse, the nonlinear incremen-
tal dynamic analyses have been carried out for the
6.1. IDA diagrams of five-story steel frame with five-story frame with the first floor column on axis
column removal B including 40% of the required bending moment.
Figures 11 and 12 show the results of the far-field
IDA diagrams for the five-story frame with a column zone and near-field zone records, respectively. As it
including 20% of bending capacity have been illu- can been seen in Table 7, the mean of maximum
strated in Figures 9 and 10 under far-field and near- PGA applied to the five-story frame before the pro-
field records, respectively. In order to investigate the gressive collapse is 0.246 g for the far-field zone

(a)

(b)

Figure 6. IDA curves of the ten-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-field records by considering intensity measure of
(a) Sa(T1,5%) and (b) PGA.

(a)
(b)
Figure 7. IDA curves of the ten-story steel special moment frame subjected to near-field records by considering intensity measure
of (a) Sa(T1,5%) and (b) PGA.
records and 0.178 g for the near-field zone records.
Furthermore, the mean values of drift corresponding
to the PGA are 0.017 for both of the far-field and
near-field zones. In the far-field zone, the maximum
PGA led to the collapse in the structure is 27.6%
more than that in the near-field zone.
6.2. IDA diagrams of ten-story steel frame with
column removal
The results of the analysis for the ten-story frame with
a column including 20% of required bending moment
are exhibited in Figures 13 and 14 under the far-field
and near-field zone records, respectively. As it can
been seen in Table 7, the mean maximum PGA
imposed before the initiation of progressive collapse
and mean drift corresponding to the maximum PGA
for the far-field records were obtained as 0.453 g and
0.036, respectively. These values for the near-field
records were 0.2 g and 0.04, respectively.
The results suggested that similar to the five-story
frame, in the far-field zone, the maximum PGA led to
the collapse of the structure is 55.8% more than that in
the near-field zone.
It can be seen that by the increasing number of the
frame story, the mean maximum PGA imposed before
the initiation of the progressive collapse has been
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 201
increased by 52% and 6.4% for the far-field and the
near-field zones, respectively.
It indicates that as the number of stories increased,
the capacity of the structure to resist progressive col-
lapse under seismic loading also increased, because
additional elements participated in resisting progres-
sive collapse (Tavakoli and Rashidi Alashti 2013), but
the effect of the number of stories is greater in the far-
field zone because in the near-field zone, record fea-
ture is dominant.
In the near-field zone, the ground motions can be
distinguished by short-duration impulsive motions,
directivity of rupture propagation, permanent ground
displacement and high-frequency content (Davoodi
and Sadjadi 2015).
7. Conclusions
The nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses (IDA)
have been performed on the two-dimensional models
with a weak column on the first floor of axis B to
evaluate the potential for progressive collapse failure
of the structures with a weak column due to inap-
propriate design and column splice implementation
and to examine the seismic strength of the frames.
IDA curves have been drawn for each of the frames
based on the PGA and maximum inter-story drift
202 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Figure 8. Values of intensity measures of Sa(T1,5%) and PGA for the performance levels of life safety (Ls) and collapse prevention
(Cp) in the ten-story steel special moment frame subjected to (a, b) far-field records and (c, d) near-field records.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 9. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-field records with a column having 20% of the
needed bending capacity.

(a)
Figure 10. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to near-field records with a column having 20% of
the needed bending capacity.
Table 7. The mean of maximum PGA and corresponding drift
before the progressive collapse in the five- and ten-story
frames subjected to far-field and near-field records.
far-field records near-field records
PGA (g) Drift PGA (g)
five-story frame (20% weakness) 0.298 0.011 0.188
five-story frame (40% weakness) 0.246 0.017 0.178
ten-story frame (20% weakness) 0.453 0.036 0.2
ratio. On the basis of the numerical studies, the fol-
lowing major results can be concluded:
● In a frame with specific floors, the mean of max-
imum PGA applied to the structure before the pro-
gressive collapse at the near-field zone is less than
that at the far-field zone. The mean of maximum
PGA at the near-field zone has been decreased 37%
for the five-story frame with a column including
20% of required bending capacity and 27.6% for
the five-story frame with a column including 40%
of required bending capacity and 55.8% for the ten-
story frame with a column including 20% of
required bending capacity.
● The analysis results of the five-story frame indicated
that the change in the column weakness has an
influence on the maximum sustainable PGA of the
structure. For the far-field and near-field records,
the mean of maximum PGA in the state of 60%
weaknesses has been reduced by 17.4% and 5.3%,
respectively, in comparison to 80% weaknesses. This
may be attributed to the fact that column including
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 203
(b)
(c)
40% of the required bending capacity caused that
removal of the column happened later while the
more time passed from initiation of the earthquake.
The structure is less able to find the alternative path
Drift
for force transfer. As a consequence, the potential
0.013
0.017 for progressive collapse increased.
0.04 ● With an increase in the number of floors, the
mean of maximum PGA applied to the structure
before the progressive collapse has been
increased under identical records and conse-
quently the performance of the structure against
the progressive collapse is improved. Under the
far-field and the near-field zone records, the max-
imum PGA sustained by the ten-story frame with
a column including 20% of required bending
capacity has been increased by 52% and 6.4%,
respectively, compared to the five-story frame. It
indicates that with the increase in the number of
stories, the progressive collapse potential is
reduced, but its effect is greater in the far-field
zone because in the near-field, seismic record
characteristic is dominant.
● Moreover, it is observed that with an increase in the
number of floors, the mean of maximum drift
created in the structure before the progressive col-
lapse has been increased. Also, under the far-field
zone and near-field zone records, the maximum
drift created in the ten-story frame with a column
including 20% of required bending capacity is 3.3
times and 3.08 times, respectively, more than that in
the five-story frame with identical conditions.
204 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 11. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-field records with a column having 40% of the
needed bending capacity.

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 12. IDA curves of the five-story steel special moment frame subjected to near-field records with a column having 40% of
the needed bending capacity.
 AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING 205

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 13. IDA curves of the ten-story steel special moment frame subjected to far-field records with a column having 20% of the
needed bending capacity.

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 14. IDA curves of the ten-story steel special moment frame subjected to near-field records with a column having 20% of the
needed bending capacity.
206 M. HAJIKAZEMI ET AL.
● Analyses have also been carried out on the frames
with different numbers of stories designed with-
out a weak column by 20 records. Based on the
plotted IDA curves, the life safety and the col-
lapse prevention performance levels have been
determined. The achieved results indicated that
by the increasing number of the frame story,
PGA needed to get a given performance level is
increased for the frame.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Matin Hajikazemi received her BSc degree in Civil
Engineering (2012) and MSc degree in Structural
Engineering (2014) from Imam Khomeini International
University, Qazvin, Iran. Her MSc thesis was titled
“Progressive Collapse in Special Moment Resisting Steel
Frames Subjected to Near Field and Far Field
Earthquakes”. She has almost six years of practical and
research experience in the fields of rehabilitation and retro-
fitting of structures, as well as the design of seismic resistant
structures. Currently, she is working as a structural engineer
in a construction and installation engineering company.
Benyamin Mohebi received his PhD degree in Earthquake
Engineering from Iran University of Science and
Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2011. Now, he is an Assistant
Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Imam Khomeini
International University, Qazvin, Iran. His current research
interests include nonlinear analysis of structures, seismic
hazard analysis, seismic retrofitting of structure, and opti-
mization in structures.
Mehdi Montazeri-Pour is an assistant professor and Head of
Department of the Chemical and Materials Engineering at
Buein Zahra Technical University, Qazvin, Iran. He received
his MSc (2008) and PhD degrees (2015) in nano-materials
engineering from the University of Tehran. His PhD thesis
was focused on applying finite element techniques for ana-
lysis of severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods and
developing a theoretical framework for constitutive model-
ing of bulk ultrafine grained (UFG) and nanostructured
materials processed by these methods. He has worked with
several engineering and research institutions such as Niroo
Research Institute and has collaborated on several national
projects supported by the Iran National Science Foundation
(INSF). He has over 20 journal papers and 15 years’ exten-
sive research experience crossing different disciplines from
the materials, chemical to mechanical engineering. Dr
Montazeri-Pour’s current research interests include
mechanics of material, numerical simulation of deformation
processes via finite element modeling (FEM) and the use of
nano-materials in engineering applications such as civil
construction.
ORCID
Benyamin Mohebi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9770-
9328
Mehdi Montazeri-Pour http://orcid.org/0000-0001-
5390-5039
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