Reliability of collapse simulation – Comparing finite and applied element method at different levels

•Cases of three different scales are simulated and compared by FEM and AEM.•Blast and earthquake loading is considered.•Comparison of simulated debris heaps with real results.•Discusses strengths and weaknesses of methods in context of collapse. Numerical prediction of progressive collapse of buildi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering structures 2018-12, Vol.176, p.265-278
Main Authors: Grunwald, Christoph, Khalil, Ahmed A., Schaufelberger, Benjamin, Ricciardi, Erik Maria, Pellecchia, Cosimo, De Iuliis, Emiliano, Riedel, Werner
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied element method
Building failures
Buildings
Catastrophic collapse
Collapse
Collapse simulation
Complexity
Computer applications
Computer simulation
Debris heap
Earthquakes
Finite element analysis
Finite element method
Mathematical models
Numerical analysis
Numerical prediction
Progressive collapse
Pyne Gould Corporation Building
Reinforced concrete structure
Scale models
Seismic activity
Urban search and rescue
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Summary:•Cases of three different scales are simulated and compared by FEM and AEM.•Blast and earthquake loading is considered.•Comparison of simulated debris heaps with real results.•Discusses strengths and weaknesses of methods in context of collapse. Numerical prediction of progressive collapse of buildings due to extreme loading is still a challenging task. However, increased computational power makes it nowadays possible to analyze not only small-scale connections and mid-size building elements, but also full buildings with considerable height and complexity. The present paper compares the results of Finite Element Method (FEM) and Applied Element Method (AEM) simulations to experimental results when performing blast or earthquake analysis on those three scales. The aim is to highlight which level of physical detail and complexity is required to predict progressive collapse numerically, and which level of accuracy can be expected. For the full scale level, the progressive collapse of the Pyne Gould Corporation Building in Christchurch, New Zealand, was simulated and compared to the final collapse shape. It is shown that the FEM is able to predict the structural response of small scale models well, but fails to achieve realistic collapsed shapes in case of the large structure, whereas the AEM shows convincing results in all cases.
ISSN:0141-0296
1873-7323
DOI:10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.08.068