A new perspective on the effects of abrupt column removal

This manuscript presents the development of a perspective for the analysis and design of floor systems to survive abrupt and complete removal of a column. The subject is treated under the premise that an event leading to an abrupt column removal is, inherently, extremely difficult to foresee and quantify a priori. It is, therefore, suggested that the proposed design method for column removal is useful as a vehicle to ensure redundancy of a floor system but not as a predictive tool. In such context, this simple method should be preferable over a complex approach. It is proposed that, a floor system can be designed to survive the sudden removal of one of its supports by: oportioning the system by using the results from a conventional linear static analysis of a model that excludes the column to be removed and a load factor exceeding 1.5; oviding adequate detailing to ensure that the system can reach deformations exceeding 1.5 times the deformation associated with the development of its full strength (“yield deformation”). h seven examples this manuscript shows that the proposed formulation provides estimates that agree with results obtained from nonlinear dynamic analyses.