The numerical simulation of a progressive collapse of structures is a very actual concern. Engineers are more and more interested in structures integrity estimation and collapse theory finding, in order to develop strategies for increasing or decreasing the progressive failure. A new method has been developed, for the last years, called Applied Element Method that has a large practicability for failure modeling. This method is used by “Extreme Loading for Structures” software.
This paper has two main goals: (i) a short presentation of the Applied Element Method in regard to the Finite Element Method and (ii) the presentation of the case study both as mathematical modeling and as demolition of structure. The results show a good correlation between numerical simulation and real demolition of the structure.
Marin Lupoae, Carmen Bucur: Use of Applied Element Method to Simulate the Collapse of Buildings, SISOM 2009 and Session of the Commission of Acoustics, Bucharest, 28-29 May 2009.