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.
Highlights
Suspended ceilings are complex building systems that can be divided in different categories according to the configuration of the metal grid and the components that are installed
When the span is longer than the maximum length of a main tee, two main tees need to be connected to each other: this typology is defined ‘main runner joint’
The yielding point and the final damage in tension were evaluated with monotonic tension tests, while cyclic quasi static tests were developed to evaluate the overall behaviour of the joints when alternate loading was applied
Summary
Suspended ceilings are complex building systems that can be divided in different categories according to the configuration of the metal grid and the components that are installed. The failure of main and cross runner joints led to falling of tiles and was reported in the experimental campaigns performed by Soroushian et al (2014, 2016c). The damage reported after shear tests was tearing of web and flange of the portion of runner, while in the opposite direction the joint bent and the bayonet partially detached from the runner In both configurations the damage observed at the end of the tests could potentially lead to failure of the ceiling. The resistance in compression was higher than in tension in the main runner joints, while the opposite was reported for the joints of cross runners and the behaviour of the joints in their weakest direction of loading was defined critical. This paper is focused on the demonstration of this topic
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