Complete analytical procedure to assess the response of a frame submitted to a column loss

• Study of the behaviour of steel and composite structures further to a column loss.
• Full analytical model to predict the response of a frame further to a column loss.
• Validation of the proposed model through comparisons to experimental results.
• Validation of the proposed model through comparisons to numerical results.

The present paper gives a global overview on recent developments performed at the University of Liege on structural robustness of buildings for the specific scenario “loss of a column”. In particular, a complete analytical method to assess the response of a 2D frame losing statically one of its columns is presented in details. This method is based on the development of alternative load paths in the damaged structure and takes into account the couplings between the different parts of the structure which are differently affected by the column loss. Also, the validation of the developed method through comparison to experimental and numerical evidences is presented.