Seismic Assessment of a Full-scale Perimeter-fixed Ceiling With Hook-and-loop-secured Lay-in Tiles Using Shake Table Tests

Abstract

Grid-and-tile ceiling systems are widely installed in commercial buildings but have frequently experienced damage in past earthquakes, resulting in safety risks, costly repairs, and operational interruptions. The present study examines the seismic performance of a perimeter-fixed ceiling incorporating hook-and-loop-secured lay-in tiles, an improved version of a conventional perimeter-fixed ceiling where tiles are not mechanically fastened to the Tees. Hook-and-loop tape at the tile–Tee interface offers an effective means to prevent tile dislodgement and collapse during shaking. The ceiling was installed over half of the third-floor span of a full-scale, three-storey steel-framed building and subjected to unidirectional and bidirectional excitation as part of the non-structural elements testing program of the New Zealand–China collaborative RObust BUilding SysTem (ROBUST) project. The ceiling was subjected to peak floor accelerations of 1.21 g (vector resultant). The observed median fundamental modal periods and median damping ratios lay in the ranges 0.07–0.08 s and 0.93–2.07%, respectively. The median horizontal acceleration amplification factor was 1.07, and the maximum peak component ceiling acceleration in the vertical direction reached 0.38 g. The maximum displacement recorded in the ceiling was 1.89 mm. Lay-in tiles did not experience any pounding with sprinkler heads, and no ceiling components sustained any damage. The hook-and-loop-secured perimeter-fixed ceiling exhibited improved seismic performance compared with conventional perimeter-fixed ceilings. The use of hook-and-loop tape to mechanically connect lay-in tiles to the Tees was shown to be simple and practical for both new installations and retrofit applications. Overall, the system can be regarded as a low-damage, seismically resilient ceiling solution.