Subjected to extreme load actions

local damages will be initiated. Since the initial local damages can be transferred between different elements

global progressive collapse may be occurred and leads to large economic loss and human casualty. To assess structural resistance of progress collapse

the alternate path method

which includes nonlinear static analysis technique and nonlinear dynamic analysis technique

is commonly used to analyze the global resistance of the damaged structure with one element removed. This paper aims to investigate the main influence factors on the nonlinear dynamic analysis technique used in the alternate path method. A reinforced concrete frame structure that was designed according to the current Chinese codes was selected as the study case. The effects due to different failure time of a frame column

different gravity load distributions

and different applying ways of dynamic loads on the structural dynamic responses caused by a sudden removal of column were examined. The results show that the variation of column failure time has a significant effect on structural nonlinear dynamic response. When the column failure time reaches 0.5 times of structural natural period

the corresponding dynamic effects on structural nonlinear responses almost disappear. Different gravity load distributions (i.e.

full bay distribution and damage-bay distribution) do not affect structural nonlinear dynamic responses obviously. Applying dynamic load after column removal consequently amplifies the nonlinear dynamic response of the structure

while the scale of amplification is limited.