Research on the seismic performance of nonstructural components

With $4 million in National Science Foundation funding, a five-year research project is currently testing and analyzing the seismic performance of nonstructural components with the aim of developing improved construction systems. The nonstructural components within the scope of the project are ceilings, piping (in particular fire sprinkler piping), and partitions. These three kinds of nonstructural components, although designed and constructed as separate processes by different design professionals and installed by different contractors, physically interact as a single system in an earthquake. This unplanned interaction has proven to be a cause of damage in past earthquakes. Because nonstructural components represent about three-quarters of the construction cost of a typical building, the vulnerability of nonstructural systems has accounted for the majority of the cost of damage in recent US earthquakes. The project website, http://www.nees-nonstructural.org/, provides further information.