• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.427-447
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• 2011

The progressive collapse phenomenon is generally regarded as dynamic. Due to the impracticality of nonlinear dynamic computations for practitioners, an interest arises for the development of equivalent static pushover procedures. The present paper proposes a methodology to identify such a procedure for sudden column removals, using energetic evaluations to determine the pushover loads to apply. In a dynamic context, equality between the cumulated external and internal works indicates a vanishing kinetic energy. If such a state is reached, the structure is sometimes assumed able to withstand the column removal. Approximations of these works can be estimated using a static computation, leading to an estimate of the displacements at the zero kinetic energy configuration. In comparison with other available procedures based on such criteria, the present contribution identifies loading patterns to associate with the zero-kinetic energy criterion to avoid a single-degree-of-freedom idealisation. A parametric study over a family of regular steel structures of varying sizes uses non-linear dynamic computations to assess the proposed pushover loading pattern for the cases of central and lateral ground floor column failure. The identified quasi-static loading schemes are shown to allow detecting nearly all dynamically detected plastic hinges, so that the various beams are provided with sufficient resistance during the design process. A proper accuracy is obtained for the plastic rotations of the most plastified hinges almost independently of the design parameters (loads, geometry, robustness), indicating that the methodology could be extended to provide estimates of the required ductility for the beams, columns, and beam-column connections.