Structural Failure

Structural failures are a result of many causes that need to be analyzed and studied before

allowing the occupants. These appear as a result of improper attention being taken during building

construction. If structural engineers don’t address a small fracture as soon as it occurs, it will eventually

continue to grow. In order to prevent accidents of any type, it is advised to maintain constant attention

and stringent supervision or inspection by professionals on occasion. On construction sites, there are

some occasions where quantity is valued above quality. This is due to the fact that the majority of sites’

regulating factors, which affect quality, are financial. At first, the work might appear to be flawless and

devoid of any indication of failure, but as time passes, the true issue begins to emerge. While certain

preventive actions are taken to fix these failures, it is preferable to take them before building damage

occurs.

In Nigeria, the collapse of buildings has been a big source of anxiety for the general public

despite the fact that these structures play a significant role in the growth of any country. As a result,

when a structure collapses, it is unable to serve the needs of the populace and the government. If a

building’s entire structure or a portion of it has collapsed and can no longer serve its intended function,

it is deemed to have collapsed. Every demographic is deeply affected when a building collapses, and

the nation suffers significant losses in terms of its physical, human, and material resources.1

An inventive method for enhancing their mechanical properties and creating high-performance

building structures is to modify composite and concrete-based materials at the nanoscale. In this

regard, a numerical analysis of the reinforcing impact of epoxy resin that has undergone

nanotechnology on the structural response of reinforced concrete (RC) components coated with fiber-

reinforced polymer (FRP) has been presented. To undertake a failure analysis of strengthened

structures, a bond-slip model and an integrated model, based on a cohesive crack method, are

combined. The proposed model, in particular, is made up of cohesive elements at the point where

concrete and FRP systems physically meet, together with a suitable bond-slip law that may explain the

1 Anosike, Nwabueze Michael. “VIEWS OF CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS’ ON THE CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF BUILDING
COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA”. International Journal of Engineering Technologies and Management Research 8 (6):68-85. (2021)
https://doi.org/10.29121/ijetmr.v8.i6.2021.976.
strengthening effect brought on by the inclusion of nanoparticles in the epoxy resin used to link the

two.2

The issue of structural failures is closely related to the building sector. An accidental, violent

destruction of a construction object or a section of it, as well as structural components of scaffolding,

forming elements, sheet piling, and excavation linings, can be referred to as a structural failure. Failures

of structures inevitably result in significant financial and environmental consequences for businesses.

The examination of structural failures enables not only the identification of the root causes but also the

introduction of remedial measures to lessen their likelihood of recurrence. It is a crucial component of

business process management in an enterprise from the perspectives of sustainability risk, human life,

corporate responsibility, but also potential financial penalties.3

This article focuses on the elements that contribute to structural flaws in schools in Malaysia.

In Malaysian school buildings, there are a number of frequent construction flaws. Building flaws are

actually a common occurrence in the construction sector, which has a bad effect on schools, how well

buildings work, how safe they are, how safe they are overall, how teaching and learning go. As a result,

a research is being planned to determine the typical construction flaws that school buildings in Kedah,

Malaysia, experience.4

When a material is stressed over its top strength limit, causing rupture or severe deformations,

structural failure starts to happen. The maximum load bearing capacity is the material or system’s

ultimate strength. When construction materials reach this point, they may already be damaged, which

causes a dramatic and irreversible reduction in their weight carrying capacity. An immediate or gradual

breakdown of the entire building should not often result from a local collapse if the system is

2De Maio, Umberto, Daniele Gaetano, Fabrizio Greco, Paolo Lonetti, Paolo Nevone Blasi, and Andrea Pranno. “The Reinforcing
Effect of Nano-Modified Epoxy Resin on the Failure Behavior of FRP-Plated RC Structures” Buildings 13, no. 5: 1139 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13051139
3Czajkowska, Agnieszka, and Manuela Ingaldi. "Structural Failures Risk Analysis as a Tool Supporting
Corporate Responsibility" Journal of Risk and Financial Management (2021) 14, no. 4: 187.
https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14040187
4 M. A. Othuman Mydin et al., “Assessment of Significant Causes to School Building Defects” E3S Web of Conferences, 3

(2014) 01002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20140301002

failure strength of the construction materials.5

Independent designers and structural engineers rely on the structural and non-structural

elements’ strength, as well as the connections of prefabricated building systems. This strength is

assessed based on manufacturers’ “commercial-in-confidence” tests of individual components, and it

may result in undesirable design effects. This study presents a review of the research on prefabricated

building systems’ structural performance, benefits, restrictions, and problems. This report also

emphasizes the need for additional research on prefabricated building systems, such as full-scale tests,

numerical modeling, hybrid simulations, case studies, and social and economic analyses.6

Due to the numerous fatalities and enormous financial losses caused by the recent series of

school building collapses in Lagos, Nigeria, these incidents have taken on a highly concerning

dimension. The reported occurrences of school building collapses have grown alarming and worrying

despite the advent and presence of building rules and professionals in Nigeria’s construction industry.

Numerous factors, including the use of subpar building materials, poor workmanship, the hiring of

quacks rather than professionals, the non-enforcement of building codes or construction regulations,

corruption in the building industry, etc., have been implicated as major causes of building failures in

schools, according to surveys that have been conducted.7

The reason for failure can frequently be complex and Multidimensional in modern times and

developed countries, where buildings and other structures are well designed and several checks are

made during the design and construction stages. It should be emphasized that we won’t know what

caused this specific structure to collapse, but generally speaking, structural failure doesn’t have just

one cause. It is also important to acknowledge how technological advancements, like structural

5 Mohammed, A. “Structural Failure of Buildings: Issues and Challenges” Journal ISSN : 2392-2192 (2014)
https://www.infona.pl/resource/bwmeta1.element.psjd-e29164d6-a77c-4cea-ae80-fb2e15bd1ea9
6 David handerson “PERFORMANCE REVIEW OF PREFABRICATED BUILDING SYSTEMS AND FUTURE RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIA”

www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings. (2019)

7Gbokiki olamilekan Sunday. “A REVIEW ON CAUSES OF SCHOOL BUILDING COLLAPSE” ESV. (Amb) O Y A N I R A N Oluwaseun
Babatunde (2019) https://www.academia.edu/41077230/A_REVIEW_ON_CAUSES_OF_SCHOOL_BUILDING_COLLAPSE_Seminar_1_
theories and calculations, have increased our understanding of architecture and engineering and

decreased failures.8

Building collapse might be partial, gradual, or sudden. In a partial collapse, only a portion of

the building collapses; in a progressive failure, symptoms of weakness are visible, such as fractures

that spread over time or odd sounds in the building caused by structural parts gradually giving way

from each other. As the name implies, a sudden collapse occurs when a building breaks down

unexpectedly and without warning.9

A structural failure is defined as the accidental, violent destruction of a construction object or

part, as well as scaffolding, forming elements, sheet piling, and excavation linings. Financial and

environmental losses are always associated with structural failures, posing a significant concern for

businesses. The examination of structural failures allows not only to identify the reasons of them, but

also to implement solutions to help avoid or reduce their occurrence in the future.10

In addition to the well-known reasons of building collapse, such as natural disasters, worn-out

materials, aging, terrorist attacks, and flawed designs, human error during construction has emerged

as a significant element in this issue. In fact, a lot of the documented cases of building collapse in

Nigeria involve people or building developers making mistakes like skipping basic professional

procedures like getting building plan approval, hiring unqualified or unskilled builders, using subpar or

defective building materials, converting existing structures illegally, and making changes to building

permits that have already been approved.11

8 Hanif kara “HOW CAN A BUILDING JUST COLLAPSE? HANIF KARA SHARES LESSONS IN BUILDING SAFETY” (2021) courtesy

CNN. https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/2021/07/how-can-a-building-just-collapse-hanif-kara-shares-lessons-in-building-safety/

9Nurudeen oloyede. “CAUSES AND NECESSARY SOLUTIONS TO BUILDING COLLAPSE IN NIGERIA” Engineer and QA/QC
Engineer at Dutum company (2019) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/causes-necessary-solutions-building-collapse-nigeria-
nurudeen-oloyede

10 Czajkowska, Agnieszka, and Manuela Ingaldi. 2021. "Structural Failures Risk Analysis as a Tool Supporting
Corporate Responsibility" Journal of Risk and Financial Management 14, no. 4: 187.
https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14040187

11 Olasunkanmi H, O. “QUANTIFYING FREQUENT BUILDING COLLAPSE AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION IN NIGERIA”
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/04/06/quantifying-frequent-building-collapse-and-disaster-risk-reduction-in-
nigeria/
 As a result of a hazard, structural failures can have a variety of negative effects, such as

functional downtime, environmental impact, material/structural damage, human injuries, and even

death. Consequence modeling is a critical stage in calculating risk in a risk-based robustness

framework, both for identifying a building’s robustness and for evaluating the value of potential

interventions to increase robustness. The guidelines to follow while calculating the effects of

prospective building breakdowns are highlighted in this research.12

The government of the nation creates development control organizations to criteria for

monitoring, training, and ensuring that standards are followed where constructions (Buildings) will be

built in the nation for the comfort of people with services. The amenities and services must endure for

the duration of the structures that adhere to rules and professional ethics.13 Engineering students are

still learning from the structural elements that led to the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings

twenty years later. Professor of civil engineering at Arizona State University who uses the collapse as

a teaching tool in his upper-level undergraduate course on steel structural design.

Mobasher argues that future engineers must evaluate potential derivations and take failures into

account at each stage of the design process, despite the fact that design engineers can’t foresee every

event that might have an impact on any construction. In terms of the course material, Mobasher noted,

“We study the lessons we learned in terms of the design of structures.” The need of considering all

possible failure modes is highlighted by the forensic investigations from the World Trade Center. 14

In addition to endangering the lives of building occupants, tornadoes are a low-occurring, high-

consequence risk that have lately caused billions of dollars in direct and indirect damages for single

storms. Tornado loads are not included in design requirements for buildings and other structures, with

the exception of nuclear reactors, as they had traditionally been believed to be too uncommon. Due to

the introduction of performance-based seismic design, which has altered engineering concept, building

12 Victoria J. (pHD student), dermot w, o’dwyer(senior lecturer) & marios k, C.(prof)

13 Hammad Salaudeen. “ROLES OF DEVELOPMENTCONTROL AGENCIES IN ERADICATING THE INCIDENTS OF

https://news.asu.edu/20210908-solutions-engineering-students-still-learning-collapse-world-trade-center
owners can now take into account performance objectives that enable a building to function better in

an extreme hazard than observed with current design code.15

This study evaluates a historic brick masonry building’s seismic performance. To take into

account the nonlinearity of the material, SAP2000 is used for nonlinear time history analysis. The

derivation of various mode forms includes their intrinsic frequencies and stresses (normal and shear).

The IS1905-1987 code of practice for unreinforced masonry constructions lists the allowable stresses

that are comparable to those mentioned above. The building is hazardous when subjected to seismic

stresses, and some weak failure zones have been identified.16

Structures of the same type that were built at the same time may share similar geometrical and

spatial characteristics. When these traits have an effect on the seismic response of the buildings, they

are referred to as typical seismic vulnerabilities. When a structure exhibits one or more of these

widespread weaknesses, some general and qualitative considerations on the structure’s seismic

reaction can be made a priori, taking into account their real impact on the seismic response of other

instances with comparable features.17

Recent research has been successful in predicting the structural breakdown of an RC structure

using machine learning.learning approaches. Previously, the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was

trained with the aid of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), which is used to accurately categorize RC

structures. However, keeping the sensitivity in predicting theFailure possibility of a Reinforced Concrete

(RC) structure, is determined by structural design.18

15 Hassan Masoomi, John W. van de Lind. “TORNADO FRAGILITY AND RISK ASSESSMENT OF AN ARCHETYPE MANSORY SCHOOL

BUILDING” Engineering Structures Volume 128 (2016), pages 26-43.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2016.09.030

16Kamran, shakeel ahmad, rehan a, khan. “SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF A HERITAGE SCHOOL BUILDING” Procedia Engineering
volume 173, (2017). Pages 1763-1770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.12.215

17 F. clementi, E. quagliarini, g. maracchini, s.lenci. “POST-WORLD WAR II ITALIAN SCHOOL BUILDINGS: TYPICAL AND SPECIFIC
SEISMIC VULNERAVILITIES” Journal of Building Engineering. Volume 4, (2015). Pages 152-166.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2015.09.008

18Sankhadeep Chatterjee, Sarbartha Sarka, Sirshendu Hore, Nilanjan Dey, Amira S. Ashour, Fuqian Shi, and Dac-Nhuong Le.
“STRUCTURAL FAILURE CLASSIFICATION FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS USING TRAINED NUERAL NETWORK BASED MULTI-
OBJECTIVE GENETIC ALGORITHM” 10.12989/sem.2017.63.4.000 https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2017.63.4.000
 The seismic retrofitting of an existing reinforced concrete school building in the Naples district

is investigated in the study. The school is constructed up of seven structures joined by seismic

connections, and it was designed to withstand just gravity stresses. One of these structures underwent

retrofitting using a variety of intervention techniques, including steel concentric, eccentric, and buckling

restrained braces, steel shear panels, reinforced concrete walls, and these structures’ non-linear

behavior was assessed and compared using the Capacity Spectrum Method.19

The purpose of doing any analysis of historical events is to learn from them and try to avoid, as

far as possible, making the same mistakes again. So if by looking at past structural failures we can

identify the signs or the warnings of impending doom, we can use that knowledge and perhaps avoid

some future calamity. That’s why studying structural failures is very important. And it assures that the

building will function as intended for the duration of its intended life span when used reasonably. To

avoid catastrophic failure, which can cause injuries, severe damage, death, and/or financial losses,

items are built with structural integrity.20

Therefore, Building failure is a major issue that cannot be disregarded, so care must be taken to

ensure that the building’s occupants are safe by using sound planning and design. Avoid making

alterations at the last minute, and fix any structural issues right away. Because prevention is always

more effective than cure, civil engineers must always choose safe design. Compressive, tensile,

bending and buckling are the basic types of structural failure for construction elements. These are

caused due to faults in design and construction. To mitigate these failures the structural engineer has

to properly study properties of the structural materials, loads to be applied and the use of the structure

to propose an appropriate material, adequate cross section and a proper structural system.

19
Antonio formisano ,carmine Castaldo , & Giovanni chiumiento. “OPTIMAL SEISMIC UPGRADING OF A REINFORCED CONCRETE
SCHOOL BUILDING WITH METAL- BASED DEVICES USING A EFFICIENT MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION- MAKING METHOD” Maintenance,
Management, life cycle design and performance. Volume 13, (2017). Issue 11

20 Andrew E. et al., “Introduction to Engineering Design: Modelling, Synthesis and Problem Solving Strategies” Oxford:
Butterworth Heinamman, (2014). ISBN 07506 42823. https://booksite.elsevier.com/samplechapters/9780750642828/0750642823-
S.pdf