EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE AXIAL BEHAVIOR OF GRID JOINTS AND SPLICES OF SUSPENDED CEILINGS

Suspended ceiling system is a type of nonstructural component suffering significant damage during earthquakes. The failure of the ceiling grid joints and splices is one of the major reasons for the ceiling damage. A series of tests on main tee splices, main-cross tee joints and peripheral joints under axial monotonic and cyclic loadings were conducted. The failure modes, load-bearing capacity, deformation capacity, and hysteretic behavior of different joints and splices were investigated. The fragility curves of the joints and splices were established based on the test data. The test results indicate that the failure mode of the main tee splices is the pulling out of the splices, that the failure mode of the main-cross tee joints is the buckling of the joints, and that the failure mode of the peripheral joints is the pulling out of the joints. The types of peripheral joints and end grids have little effect on the failure modes and loading-bearing capacity of the peripheral joints. Seismic clips should be fixed with the ceiling perimeter using screws to improve the seismic capacity of the peripheral joints.