Dynamic progressive collapse of an RC assemblage induced by contact detonation

The nature of progressive collapse is a dynamic event caused by accidental or intentional extraordinary loading. Most published experimental programs are conducted statically, without any consideration of the accidental loading and treating progressive collapse as threat independent. This paper demonstrates the more realistic process of progressive collapse in an experimental program on reinforced concrete subassemblages collapsed by a combination of dead weight loading and contact detonation. The dynamic results are represented systematically at different aspects and compared with previous published quasi-static experiments in terms of structural mechanisms, crack patterns and local failure modes. Moreover, the dynamic increase factor (DIF) of reinforcing bars and the dynamic load amplification factor (DLAF) are investigated and discussed. Following the above comparisons and the findings in the dynamic tests, previous quasi-static test results can be linked to actual progressive collapse behavior more convincingly. Finally, the dynamic tests also highlight the effect of contact detonation on structures, which are often not considered in quasi-static tests and design guidelines. The test results indicate that contact detonation causes uplift and out-of-plane actions to the subassemblage before their downward movement under gravity load, in which the strain rate of reinforcement is between 10^-2 and 10^-1/s. Moreover, the structural mechanisms are similar in both quasi-static and dynamic tests.