Collaborative Research: Framework for Quantifying Structural Robustness through Modeling and Simulation

稳健性是指结构体系抵抗渐进崩溃的能力。虽然评估结构稳健性的研究已经进行了一段时间，但许多关键问题仍未得到解答。抗崩溃的来源是什么？结构稳健性是否可以量化，如果可以，如何量化？简单的设计修改，如抗震细节，是否能提高抗倒塌能力，特别是在系统层面？为了解决这些开放的问题，将开发专用连接宏模型，以实现RC和钢弯矩框架的倒塌模拟。仿真模型的校准和验证将通过两种方式完成：通过与大型连接测试的独特实验数据进行比较，以及通过与高保真分析进行比较。一些结构稳健性的定量措施将被开发，以评估局部和整体的倒塌潜力的典型钢和钢筋混凝土建筑结构。然后将研究结果综合成一个概率框架，该框架可作为确定给定损伤情景下结构倒塌概率的基础。提出的工作的智力价值在于前所未有的机会，利用独特的大规模测试数据来回答一些长期关注结构工程界的关键问题。该项目的研究结果将大大提高对建筑结构抗倒塌性的理解。此外，已开发的模型和评估结构稳健性的框架将构成可推广到其他结构系统的更一般方法的基础。在更广泛的范围内，拟议的研究将提供所需的关键信息，以支持新一代设计规范的发展，这些规范试图明确量化倒塌风险。预计将开发的新的结构稳健性指数将使人们更好地了解在一个或多个关键结构元件损坏或失效后结构的储备能力。这些好处直接转化为挽救生命，减少建筑物意外负荷后的伤害和痛苦。该项目还将为研究生提供高级培训，让他们参与研究活动的各个阶段。

Robustness is the ability of a structural system to resist progressive collapse. While research on evaluating structural robustness has been ongoing for a while, many critical questions still remain unanswered. What are the sources of collapse resistance? Can structural robustness be quantified, and if so, how? Can simple design modifications, such as seismic-resistant detailing, provide increased collapse resistance, particularly at the system level? To address these open issues, special-purpose connection macromodels will be developed to enable collapse simulations of RC and steel moment frames. The calibration and validation of the simulation models will be accomplished in two ways: through comparison with unique experimental data on large-scale testing of connections and through comparison with high fidelity analyses. Several quantitative measures of structural robustness will be developed to assess local and global collapse potential of typical steel and RC building structures. The research results will then be synthesized into a probabilistic framework that can be used as a basis for defining the probability of structural collapse for a given damage scenario. The intellectual merit of the proposed work lies in the unprecedented opportunity to leverage unique large-scale test data to answer a number of critical questions that have long concerned the structural engineering community. The findings from this project will result in a significantly improved understanding of collapse resistance of building structures. In addition, the developed models and the framework for assessment of structural robustness will form the basis of a more general methodology that can be extended to other structural systems. At a broader scale, the proposed research will provide critical information needed to support the development of a new generation of design codes that attempt to explicitly quantify collapse risk. The new structural robustness indices that will be developed are expected to lead to a better understanding of reserve capacity in structures following the damage or failure of one or more critical structural elements. These benefits directly translate into saved lives and reduced injuries and suffering in the aftermath of unexpected loads on buildings. The project will also provide advanced training to graduate students by involving them in all phases of the research activity.