Failure Ratio of Suspended Ceiling systems with Various Geometries Under Seismic Excitations

Suspended ceiling systems are one of the commonly used nonstructural components. These systems were reported as one of the main reasons that impede the functionality of buildings during past earthquakes. Although many research was conducted to investigate the behavior of such systems, few understandings are available regarding the effect of ceiling geometry on their seismic response. To help minimize uncertainties with this regard, multiple suspended ceiling systems with various dimensions were modeled using an automated ceiling generation platform. The numerical simulation was adopted from a predefined modeling methodology in the OpenSees software. Twenty-five time-history ground motion records were used to capture the seismic response of ceiling specimens in this project. The outcomes of this research were then validated and compared against fragility curves presented in FEMA P-۵۸ S ۹.۳۱ fragility guideline. In order to provide more detailed data regarding the vulnerability of suspended ceiling systems, the failure ratio of every suspended ceiling under each time-history record is presented for the first time in this paper. The results of this paper indicate that suspended ceiling systems with larger area are prone to severe damage under dynamic loading. The ceiling perimeter was also more suspected to damage during seismic events.

Keywords:

suspended ceiling systems , time-history dynamic analysis , nonstructural systems , automated model