Robustness and seismic design for 2D reinforced concrete frames: comparisons and suggestions

The goal of the present study is to evaluate the structural robustness and test some modifications on the design criteria of a reinforced concrete frame, designed in a highly seismic area. In detail, these modifications regard the layout and continuity of the longitudinal reinforcement bars. Using the finite element software Atena-2D, equivalent static pushdown analyses are elaborated through the imposition of a monotonically increasing vertical displacement at the point of column removal, obtaining as a result of each step the reaction that the rest of the structure is able to provide. Thus, the robustness is evaluated in terms of capacity curves (i.e., resistance-displacement curves). Furthermore, this study has allowed to investigate the effectiveness of a seismic design with respect to a progressive collapse scenario.