Abstract
Although many analytical and experimental studies have been carried out to date on the 1 progressive collapse and robustness of cast-in-place RC and steel building structures, very few 2 experimental research works have been performed on precast concrete (PC) structures. The small 3 number of publications on these experiments have focused on analysing the behaviour of 4 subassemblies after the sudden loss of an internal column. This paper is the first to describe the 5 construction of a full-scale purpose-built experimental PC building to study the sudden removal 6 of corner columns and the structure's ability to find alternative load paths (ALPs). The 7 connections between the precast members were designed using existing simplified guidance for 8 robustness. The results obtained from the test using gravity loads corresponding to typical load 9 combinations defined in building codes for accidental design situations, showed a structural 10 response governed by Vierendeel action with a clear contribution from the floor slabs. Load 11 increase factors were obtained from the test results which can be applied by practitioners using 12 simplified linear finite element models to account for non-linear dynamic effects in a simplified 13 manner. This work is expected to form part of a large database of experimental results that are 14 useful for developing advanced numerical simulations and parametric analyses. 15