Risk Assessment Of Progressive Collapse In Educational Structures

Abstract

Progressive collapse, which has been defined as disproportionate spread of an initial localized failure throughout 
the structure, represents an important but often under-appreciated threat to the educational building stock. This 
experimental study evaluates the progressive collapse analysis of eight reinforced concrete (RC) and hybrid 
educational buildings located in central India, designed over a span of 34 years between 1985-2019, using various 
methods including nonlinear static analysis followed by Demand-Capacity Ratio (DCR) check and connectivity 
tie-force adequacy check. All of the structures were tested using column-removal scenarios as dictated by sinking
structural-effect principles delineated in General Services Administration (GSA) 2016 guidance and DoD UFC 
4-023-03 protocols. The findings show that the older buildings (for example those built prior to 2000) always 
have DCR values greater than 1.5 under interior column removal in all cases, significant non-compliance. 
Building Classification: B-01, B-03, B-06 High to Very High Collapse Risk - Immediate Structural Retrofit 
Required. In contrast, buildings built after 2010 show DCR values of less than 1.2 and ductility ratios higher than 
1.70 that evidenced appropriate seismic detailing to allow collapse arrest. Plastic hinge collapse loads are 
between 265 kN (B-03) and 790 kN (B-08) and ductility ratios range from 1.39 to 1.74 over the same floor-slip 
cases. Through tie-force adequacy analysis, it is shown that 37.5% of the buildings in your sample are not able 
to meet horizontal ties. Finally, a risk-indexed retrofit prioritization framework is presented together with cost 
implications to provide data-driven insights for facility managers, structural engineers and policy makers 
responsible for ensuring the safety of educational infrastructure.