Analytical Study of Large-Area Suspended Ceilings

Due to the complex and heterogeneous construction of suspended ceiling systems, current standards provide only limited guidance for their seismic design. Simplified uniaxial numerical models of suspended ceiling systems are developed based on the experimental observation. Main runners with tributary ceiling area and grid connections in the longitudinal direction are modeled using lumped-masses and nonlinear connection springs. The proposed numerical models can be used as simple computational tools to explore the dynamic behavior and to estimate the design forces. Possible changes to the current standard design that suggest a more rational distribution of ceiling inertia forces are also discussed.