Related papers: The Late Jolt -- Re-Examining the World Trade Cent…
Ba\v{z}ant et al. have proposed a model of a gravity-driven collapse of a tall building which collapses in a progressive-floor collapse after the failure of a single storey. The model allows the re-computation of the structural resistance…
The Simple Collapse Model of Ba\v{z}ant and Zhou is evaluated for a progressive floor collapse of a tall building. A sequence of energy estimates indexed by the collapsing floors is derived. Each of the estimates gives a sufficient…
We derive discrete and continuous class of mathematical models that describe a progressive collapse in a fictional one-dimensional structure, where we consider plastic and elastic types of collisions. We examine static (collapse initiation…
We examine four WTC 7 descent curves, labeled "C," "E," "N," and "O," either anonymously published, or confidentially communicated to us. Descent curve describes apparent height of a collapsing building as a function of time. The set "C"…
We derive a mathematical model of progressive collapse and examine role of compaction. Contrary to a previous result by Ba\v{z}ant and Verdure, J. Engr. Mech. ASCE 133 (2006) 308, we find that compaction slows down the avalanche by…
During the past earthquakes, different low ductile failure modes are observed in the gravity design structures and thus, the most of existing damage indices may fail to assess the damage of gravity design structures accurately in referring…
Gravity-driven collapses involving large amounts of dense granular material, such as landslides, avalanches, or rockfalls, in a geophysical context, represent significant natural hazards. Understanding their complex dynamics is hence a key…
An analysis of the collapse of the Twin Towers is carried on with the aid of simple mechanical laws. The motion of the collapse front is calculated in terms of geometric and energetic quantities.
Numerical simulations of the collapse and spreading of granular columns onto an horizontal plane using the Contact Dynamics method are presented. The final shape of the deposit seems to depend only on the aspect ratio $a$ of the columns;…
As inelastic design for wind is embraced by the engineering community, there is an increasing demand for computational tools that enable the investigation of the nonlinear behavior of wind-excited structures and subsequent development of…
The results of a 3-dimensional SNSPH simulation of the core collapse of a 23 solar mass star are presented. This simulation did not launch an explosion until over 600ms after collapse, allowing an ideal opportunity to study the evolution…
The gravitational collapse in fourth order theories of gravity defined by an arbitrary action of the scalar curvature shows significant deviations with General Relativity. The presence of a new scalar mode produces a higher initial…
When an open system of classical point particles interacting by Newtonian gravity collapses and relaxes violently, an arbitrary amount of energy may in principle be carried away by particles which escape to infinity. We investigate here,…
Understanding gravitational collapse requires understanding how $\sim 10^{58}$ nucleons can be destroyed in $\sim 10^{-5}$ seconds. The recent proposal that the endpoint of gravitational collapse can be a "dark energy star" implies that the…
Our previous works have shown the statistical mechanics of self-gravitating system. In this paper, we will show its thermodynamics and compare our results with observations and simulations. We propose that our statistical mechanics can be…
The impact-induced energy transfer and dissipation in granular targets without any confining walls are studied by microgravity experiments. A solid projectile impacts into a granular target at low impact speed ($0.045 \leq v_p \leq…
Collapse and reverse to collapse explosion transition in self-gravitating systems are studied by molecular dynamics simulations. A microcanonical ensemble of point particles confined to a spherical box is considered; the particles interact…
Gravity and thermal energy are universal phenomena which compete over the stabilization of astrophysical systems. The former induces an inward pressure driving collapse and the latter a stabilizing outward pressure generated by random…
Potential energy stored during the inter-seismic period by tectonic loading around faults is released during earthquakes as radiated energy, heat and fracture energy. The latter is of first importance since it controls the nucleation,…
Dynamical wave function collapse models entail the continuous liberation of a specified rate of energy arising from the interaction of a fluctuating scalar field with the matter wave function. We consider the wave function collapse process…