Evaluation of dynamic increase factor in progressive collapse analysis of steel frame structures considering catenary action

This paper investigates the effects of the tensile catenary action on dynamic increase factor (DIF) in the nonlinear static analysis for progressive collapse of steel-frame buildings. Numerical analyses were performed to verify the accuracy of the empirical and analytical expressions proposed in the literature in cases where the catenary action is activated. For this purpose, nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of a series of steel moment frame buildings with a different number of spans and stories were carried out following the alternate path method. Different column removal scenarios were considered as separate load cases. The dynamic increase factor that approximately compensates for the dynamic effects in the nonlinear static analysis was selected so to match results from the nonlinear dynamic analysis. The study results showed that the many expressions in literature may not work in cases where the catenary stage is fully developed.