Chord rotation demand for effective catenary action of RC beams under gravitational loadings

Many experimental and analytical studies have been conducted with beam-column subassemblages composed of a two-span beam to investigate the progressive collapse resistance of RC frames. Most study results reveal a strength-decreased transition phase in the nonlinear static load-deflection curve, which may induce dynamic snap-through response and increase the chord rotation demand for effective catenary action (ECA). In this study, the nonlinear static response is idealized as a piecewise linear curve and analytical pseudo-static response is derived for each linearized region to investigate the rotation demands for the ECA of the two-span RC beams. With analytical parameters determined from several published test results, numerical analysis results indicate that the rotation demand of 0.20 rad recommended in the design guidelines does not always guarantee the ECA. A higher rotation demand may be induced for the two-span beams designed with smaller span-to-depth ratios and it is better to use their peak arch resistance (PAR) as the collapse strength. A tensile reinforcement ratio not greater than 1.0% and a span-to-depth ratio not less than 7.0 are suggested for the two-span RC beams bridging the removed column if the ECA is expected for the collapse resistance. Also, complementary pseudo-static analysis is advised to verify the ECA under realistic dynamic column loss even though the static PAR is recovered in the nonlinear static response. A practical empirical formula is provided to estimate an approximate rotation demand for the ECA.