New engineering method could help prevent buildings collapsing after column failure
A new engineering method could be the difference between a building surviving a failed support column and a chain reaction that causes the entire structure to collapse, according to research led by the University of Surrey.
Demolition works after car park collapse in Nueva Montaña, Spain.
In a study published in Structural Concrete, researchers introduce a simpler way for engineers to assess how reinforced concrete floors respond when a support column suddenly fails, helping them design buildings that can better withstand unexpected structural damage.
Modern buildings such as car parks, office blocks and new flat developments are often built using concrete slabs, supported directly by columns to form each floor level. Although the design offers flexibility and makes efficient use of space, it can be vulnerable to a type of structural failure known as ‘punching shear’, where the column effectively punches through the concrete slab above it. If the weight suddenly shifts to other columns, the extra load can potentially trigger a chain reaction known as progressive collapse.
The dangers of this type of failure were highlighted by the collapse of the Nueva Montaña car park in Santander, Spain, in 2020, which researchers used as a real-world case study to help validate their new equations.
The team worked in collaboration with Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Universidad de Extremadura and industry partner Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), building on earlier mathematical models to develop and test a set of equations that removes the need for some of the more complex calculations previously required.
The method allows engineers to assess how much reinforcement might be needed to prevent further structural failure and is compatible with the next generation of Eurocode 2 – the European standard for designing concrete structures – making it easier to incorporate into existing design practices.
When tested against existing experimental results and new data from the Nueva Montaña car park collapse, the equations successfully predicted the type of structural failure observed at the site due to the failure around a neighbouring column. The findings also showed that the method could be applied to situations involving the sudden loss of multiple columns.
When an incident like the Nueva Montaña car park collapse happens, we need to understand exactly what went wrong and what we can learn from it.Lead author Dr Maria Liapopoulou, now a Brunel Fellow at the University of Cambridge, who conducted the research while working as a Research Fellow at the University of Surrey
"What was really encouraging was seeing how closely our calculations matched what actually happened there. It's one thing to develop a mathematical model, but being able to test it against a real case study gives us greater confidence that it could make a difference in practice.
The findings could support future improvements to structural design guidance, helping engineers assess how buildings respond to unexpected damage and reduce the risk of localised failures developing into more widespread collapse.
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Notes to editors
- Professor Juan Sagaseta is available for interview; please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.
- The full paper can be found here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/suco.70827
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