Shake table tests on plasterboard continuous ceilings

In the last years, the scientific community research effort is moving towards the investigation of the seismic behaviour of nonstructural components. In this paper, full-scale experimental testing are designed and implemented to investigate the seismic behaviour of a typology of nonstructural components: the plasterboard continuous suspended ceilings. A set of five accelerograms are selected matching the target response spectrum, provided by the USA code for nonstructural components seismic qualification (AC 156). These accelerograms, representative of different intensity levels, are then applied to the test setup. Three limit states (occupancy, damage and life safety limit state) are considered in this study to characterize the seismic response of suspended ceiling systems. The ceilings tested show no damage at all intensity level, resulting in a low fragility. An interesting comparison is made with a previous vulnerability study on a ceiling system with discrete plasterboard tiles.