Experimental Evaluation of Nonstructural Components under Full-Scale Floor Motions

Abstract eng:
In order to better characterize the seismic vulnerability of nonstructural components and equipment and develop effective mitigation measures, the University at Buffalo has commissioned a dedicated Nonstructural Component Simulator (UB-NCS). The UB-NCS is composed of a two-level testing frame capable of simultaneously subjecting displacement and/or acceleration sensitive nonstructural components and systems to realistic full-scale floor motions expected within multistory buildings. The UB-NCS can subject nonstructural components to 3g acceleration, 100 in/s velocity and ±40 in displacement amplitudes. A testing protocol taking full advantage of the new capabilities provided by the UB-NCS has been developed for dynamic testing of acceleration and/or displacement sensitive nonstructural components and distributed nonstructural systems. The protocol motions were applied to assess the seismic performance of a full-scale hospital emergency room containing typical nonstructural components and life support medical equipment and to demonstrate the capabilities of the UB-NCS. The nonstructural components in the emergency room included steel studded gypsum partition walls, suspended ceiling, and a fire extinguishing system. The medical equipment included wall-mounted patient monitors, a ceiling mounted surgical lamp, free standing poles with IV infusion pumps, an operating room video equipment rack, medical gas piping runs inside partition walls, and a crash dummy sitting on a medical gurney. This paper describes the UB-NCS equipment, the proposed testing protocol and the results the nonstructural tests including the seismic performance of individual nonstructural components and medical equipment as well as the dynamic interaction between them.

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