Experimental and numerical assessment of suspended ceiling joints

Abstract

During an earthquake, damages of non-structural components can prevent the safe occupancy of buildings and contribute largely to the global economic losses. Ceiling systems are among the most common non-structural components, since they are widely installed in public buildings, retails and offices. As demonstrated by the failures reported after seismic events worldwide, ceiling joints are often subjected to damage that ultimately leads to collapse of the ceiling system. While perimeter joints have been assessed in many experimental campaigns, there are limited data regarding experimental and numerical characterisation of inner joints. Moreover, the available experimental results are characterized by elasto-fragile behaviour and concern devices which differ in size and type from the mechanical connections commonly manufactured in Europe. In this work a preliminary numerical study on a full-scale suspended ceiling model has been performed to evaluate the main actions on suspended ceiling joints. Moreover, an extensive experimental campaign has been conducted on a type of the so-called “standard” and “seismic” joints, produced in Europe and installed in different typologies of runners. Specimens were subjected to monotonic and cyclic quasi-static tests, using a similar setup to the ones used in Literature to allow a comparison of the performances obtained. Moreover, numerical models of the joints were developed and calibrated on the experimental results. The aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of different types of inner joints and investigate the influence of shape and dimensions of tees to the performance of the connection. The results here presented allows to accurately characterise the behaviour of inner joints and finally enhancing the global seismic behaviour of suspended ceilings.

Frequency‐Sensitivity of the seismic damage to suspended ceilings

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Numerical models of different levels of complexity were also developed to provide insight into the seismic behavior of suspended ceilings. 11,15,18,21,[24][25][26][27] Both the experimental and numerical results have led to a variety of seismic fragility models. While the definitions of the damage measures and limit states could be very different, peak floor acceleration (PFA) has been predominantly used as an intensity measure for suspended ceilings.…”

“…Experimental studies, most of which involved shake table tests, have focused on the effects of key parameters on the damage to suspended ceilings, such as peripheral boundary conditions, lateral constraints, joint enhancement, sizes, panel properties, loading directions, and the interaction with other nonstructural elements 9–23 . Numerical models of different levels of complexity were also developed to provide insight into the seismic behavior of suspended ceilings 11,15,18,21,24–27 . Both the experimental and numerical results have led to a variety of seismic fragility models.…”

Experimental-based numerical simulation of interacting suspended ceiling-sprinkler piping systems

“…During the past three decades, various experimental projects (ANCO, 1983;Badillo-Almaraz et al, 2007;Blasi et al, 2018Blasi et al, , 2021Brandolese et al, 2019;Fiorin et al, 2021;Gilani et al, 2013;Jenkins et al, 2017;Ju and Gupta, 2015;Rahmanishamsi et al, 2014;Ryu and Reinhorn, 2013;Soroushian et al, 2012Soroushian et al, , 2016cTadinada and Gupta, 2017;Tian et al, 2014;Zaghi et al, 2012;Zhou et al, 2021) and multiple numerical works (Echevarria et al, 2012;Fiorin et al, 2021;Perrone et al, 2020;Ryu and Reinhorn, 2017;Soroushian et al, 2014cTian et al, 2015;Zaghi et al, 2016) were performed on CP systems. However, because of the complexity of these two systems, previous numerical studies were found to be less reliable compared to full-scale experiments.…”

Seismic performance of vertical strut and lateral brace suspended continuous‐plasterboard ceiling system with all edges free in the plane of ceiling

“…19,22,[27][28][29][30][31] In Europe, ceiling systems do not incorporate rigidly connected compression posts that join the floor/roof to the main runner or primary supporting channel. 32 Concerning the use of a bracing system, the results showed that bracing improves the performance of a ceiling, 27,28,30,31 even in a system-level ceiling-partition system. 25 However, some studies have highlighted that the absence of bracings improves the dynamic performance of ceilings.…”