Suspended ceiling and fire sprinkler piping systems are one of the most vulnerable types of nonstructural systems that have suffered costly damage during past earthquakes. The seismic performance of these two systems are poorly understood due to their heterogeneous nature. In order to fill this technical gap, a numerical modeling methodology is proposed for the integrated ceiling and sprinkler (CP) systems using the OpenSees software. This numerical simulation incorporates several experimentally calibrated component models for the pipe and ceiling joints as well as the supporting elements (e.g. braces, hangers) of CP systems. The propagation of seismic damage in CP systems and falling of ceiling panels are accounted for by using an element removal algorithm. The modeling technique is then validated using the experimental results of a CP system installed in a full-scale five-story building. The modeling method proved to be successful in predicting the pattern and location of failure in these systems.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Siavash Soroushian; Manos Maragakis (2015), "NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF INTEGRATED CEILING-SPRINKLER SYSTEMS," https://datacenterhub.org/resources/13909.

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