Progressive collapse-resisting capacity of framed structures with infill steel panels

• The effect of infill steel panels on preventing progressive collapse of moment frames is evaluated.
• A design procedure for infill steel plates is proposed to prevent progressive collapse.
• The infill steel panels are effective in reducing the progressive collapse potential.
• The single brace model may be used for design of steel panels to prevent progressive collapse.

In this study the effect of infill steel panels on enhancing the progressive collapse resisting capacity of moment frames is evaluated, and a simple design procedure for infill steel plates is proposed to enhance the progressive collapse resisting capacity of steel moment frames. The progressive collapse potentials of model structures are evaluated by arbitrarily removing a center column and carrying out nonlinear static pushdown analyses using the nonlinear finite element analysis code ABAQUS. The performances of structures with partial or perforated infill panels are also studied. Then a preliminary design procedure for infill steel panels is proposed based on the equivalent single brace simplification of steel panels. The analysis results show that the infill steel panels, even the partial infill panels or panels with perforation, are effective in reducing the progressive collapse potential of moment frames. It is also shown that the proposed design procedure may be effective in preliminary design of infill steel panels to prevent progressive collapse of steel moment frames.