Seismic Design and Performance of Non-structural Elements

The non-structural components in buildings represent a high percentage of the construction cost and can reach up to 85% of the total capital cost. Performance of non-structural elements in past earthquakes have dramatically... [ view full abstract ]

The non-structural components in buildings represent a high percentage of the construction cost and can reach up to 85% of the total capital cost. Performance of non-structural elements in past earthquakes have dramatically illustrated their vulnerabilities. Failure of these components in an earthquake can cause a very high economic cost, can disrupt the functionality of buildings and facilities and can pose a safety hazard to occupants from falling elements. Apart from falling hazards, it can obstruct the safe movement of occupants evacuating buildings and can hamper rescue efforts.
For the above reasons, building codes and standards organizations, owners and occupants, construction industry manufacturers and several design disciplines are focusing on this topic. In this paper, a literature review of the performance of non-structural components in recent earthquakes will be carried out. Then, the design philosophy and design provisions of non-structural elements in EC8 will be discussed and compared to several international seismic codes. Finally, the future extension plans of the reaction frames at the strong floor area in NUI Galway heavy structures research laboratory to perform cyclic tests on different types of claddings will be illustrated.