Failure of steel structures: Rethinking some of the aftermaths

Abstract

Steel structures are the most ductile systems; however they are prone to instability phenomena due to their inherent slenderness. Looking at the real events of over 50 years, it was observed that steel structures, when they are subjected to seismic actions, respond, relatively, in an acceptable way, avoiding a global collapse. In case of quasi-static loads, such as snow, overloading, due to earth infill in case of green roofs, or indirect actions, coming from geometrical imperfections or lack of bracing, fail under a sudden way. A failure should be approached by any type of combination of cumulated errors in design, construction, operation and maintenance. The paper is focused on failures, in quasi-static loads, of the first stage in the design and construction phase of a project. It attempts through a technical classification and presentation of case studies to unveil relevant causes of collapses. From the engineering point of view, the lack of redundancy, robustness and ductility are the main factors of structural collapse. Indeed, the human nature represents the central core for any structural failure, and this is attributed to a coupling of the lack of knowledge, as well as management and organizational inefficiencies.

Keywords

• collapse
• lack of knowledge
• management
• ultimate state
• case studies