A 17,000 sq ft portion of the 225,000 sq ft, low-sloped warehouse roof collapsed during a short, but intense, rainstorm. The structural system for the roof consisted of metal deck supported on open-web steel joists and joist girders...
The collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) towers on 11 September 2001 was an unprecedented event in U.S. history. NIST retained SGH and ARA to develop computer simulations of the structural response of WTC 1 and 2 to aircraft impact and...
The Aurora Events Center houses a recreational arena for football and other athletic events. The curved, steel-framed roof is constructed of long-span steel joists spanning between box trusses. Minutes after erection, the joists on the south half...
Abstract: On Saturday, 9 March 2002 at approximately 1:45 p.m., a 100-ft long, suspended scaffold platform fell from the west face of the 100-story John Hancock Center in Chicago, dropping debris along an arc from the northwest corner of the...
Abstract: For several decades, the engineering profession has considered techniques to analyze the potential that structures could experience disproportionate collapse and to design them for greater resistance to such collapse. First interest in...
Abstract: An investigation into the fetal collapse of a scaffold platform on Chicago's John Hancock Center found that project participants failed to adequately meet their responsibilities and avert the disaster.
By: Donald Dusenberry, Mlakar, P.F., Harris, J.R., Haynes G.A., Phan, L.T., Sozen, M.A.
Abstract: On September 11, 2001, an airliner was intentionally crashed into the Pentagon. It struck at the first elevated slab on the west wall, and slid approximately 310ft (94.5m) diagonally into the building. The force of the collision...
By: Donald Dusenberry, Mlakar, P.F., Harris, J.R., Haynes G.A., Phan, L.T., Sozen, M.A.
Abstract: The Pentagon was constructed between September 1941 and January 1943. A substantial renovation of the entire 6.6 million sq ft (610,000 sq m) facility began in 1999 and was scheduled for completion in 2010. On September 11, 2001, a...
By: Donald Dusenberry, Mlakar, P.F., Harris, J.R., Haynes G.A., Phan, L.T., Sozen, M.A.
Abstract: On September 11, 2001, the reinforced concrete structure of the Pentagon Building was able to resist, without collapse, the impact of a large commercial airliner despite the total loss of 26 columns and severe damage to 15 columns at...
By: Donald Dusenberry, Mlakar, P.F., Harris, J.R., Haynes, G.A., Phan, L.T., Sozen, M.A.
Abstract: The devastation in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon was reduced by the building's resilient structural system. The continuity, redundancy, and energy-absorbing capacity embodied in this system should be...
Abstract: A progressive collapse is a structural failure that is initiated by localized structural damage and subsequently develops, as a chain reaction, into a failure that involves a major portion of the structural system. The collapse of the...