Seismic Performance Evaluation of Acceleration-sensitive Medical and Mechanical Equipments in General Hospitals

Abstract

The main function of the general hospital building is to provide medical facilities and service. However, damage to the non-structural elements such as architectural, medical, mechanical and other components will interrupt those functions after the earthquake. Especially, it is considered that, damage to the non-structural elements is a serious event because it is directly associated with the lives of patients. Therefore, this study evaluated whether the certain non-structural elements of general hospital building has the seismic performance to provide hospital medical services after the earthquake. The evaluation is conducted by selecting the non-structural elements used in general hospital which are sensitive to acceleration, such as cooling towers, air handler, MRI and CT. As a result, the non-structural elements located on the upper floor without suitable support method did not meet the performance objective. Therefore, adequate anchorage against the seismic event is required for such non-structural elements that are acceleration-sensitives.