Evaluation of interactional behavior of suspended ceilings and partition walls through shake table tests

Earthquakes cause seismic losses due to direct and indirect effects of damage to structural and nonstructural elements in buildings. Suspended ceiling-to-partition wall (SCPW) systems, the most earthquake-vulnerable nonstructural elements, may suffer severe damage under earthquakes even with low and moderate intensities. However, there is still limited research on investigating the seismic performance of SCPW systems in buildings located at low- or moderate-seismicity regions. This study aims to experimentally evaluate the seismic response of SCPW systems using shake-table test program and to deeply investigate the interaction between a partition wall and a ceiling. To do this, the shake table program was carried out using a full-scale specimen employing SCPW systems and its results were summarized and analyzed. The frequencies measured at the partitions were similar to those measured at the test frame whereas the fundamental frequency of the suspended ceiling was decoupled to the floor acceleration of the test frame. The full-height partitions presented relatively good seismic response because of the sufficient lateral support at the top of the partition, whereas severe damage was mainly concentrated on the ceiling elements due to pounding effects. The partial-height partitions with improper anchor detailing to adjacent suspended ceiling suffered severe damage. Such poor seismic performance is because they suffer pounding effects resulting from the interactional behavior which are magnified in partition walls with lack of sufficient lateral supporting. Both partial-height partitions and ceiling elements were seriously damaged.