Seismic behavior of discontinuous suspended ceiling system with boundary constraints

Abstract

The boundary condition of the discontinuous suspended ceiling (SC) system has significant influence on its seismic performance. This study aims to comprehensively understand the seismic behavior of the discontinuous SC system with boundary constraints. Full-scale shaking table tests were conducted on a discontinuous SC specimen designed according to Chinese code firstly. Test results confirm that the damage to peripheral connections between the grid ends and the boundary could be effectively avoided. The grid connections are most vulnerable to earthquakes, and the main tee-cross tee connections closest to the fixed boundary are firstly damaged. Because of the strong constraints provided by seismic clips at the perimeter, the seismic responses at the middle of the ceiling are significantly larger than those at other locations. Secondly, an improved finite element model for this ceiling system is proposed, which can well predict its responses under the earthquake, such as acceleration and displacement, and damage status. The modeling efficiency is greatly improved by the developed automated modeling technique.