Development of Testing Facilities and Procedures for Seismic Performance of Suspended Ceilings

This study presents the initiation of Phase II of an international joint collaborative research project that is being carried out by researchers in Japan, China and Canada on the seismic performance of suspended non-structural components in supertall buildings. Research infrastructure was developed in this study for testing and evaluation of seismic performance of non-structural components. In addition to the development of the new research infrastructure, the development of a research program on testing of suspended ceiling systems by using the new research facilities was also included in this research. In this study, previous experimental and numerical analysis research on the seismic performance of suspended ceilings are reviewed. This study also investigates the variation in design codes between the National Building Code of Canada and the International Building Code. Finally, the current seismic testing procedure is evaluated with simulated floor response records.