ATC-120

ATC-120, Seismic Analysis, Design, and Installation of Nonstructural Components and Systems - Background and Recommendations for Future Work

 

Client: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

PROJECT BACKGROUND

NIST GCR 13-917-23, Development of NIST Measurement Science R&D Roadmap: Earthquake Risk Reduction in Buildings (developed by the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) of the National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) for NIST in 2013) identified nonstructural issues as a top priority need for problem-focused studies related to earthquake engineering for new and existing buildings. The report identified four critical areas related to nonstructural design criteria needing focused study: (1) the vertical distribution of nonstructural design forces over the height of a building, Fp; (2) the response modification coefficients for nonstructural components; Rp; (3) the overstrength factors used in the design of nonstructural anchorage; and (4) nonstructural component and system performance metrics.

Nonstructural components and systems can account for a significant percentage of the construction cost of a building (depending on occupancy), and significant economic losses resulting from downtime and loss of functionality have been observed in past earthquakes, even when the structure is not severely damaged. With recent advancements in performance-based design methodologies, and the development of concepts for community resilience, there has been an increased emphasis on economic losses resulting from downtime and loss of building function due to nonstructural components and systems, and an increase in research and testing in this area. Development of new research results, and the availability of new international standards, makes reexamination of U.S. nonstructural design criteria possible at this time.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The project, “Scoping Study: Seismic Analysis and Design of Nonstructural Components and Systems,” was funded by NIST to provide support for seismic analysis and design of nonstructural components and systems by bringing together relevant sources of information and formulating specific tasks to be addressed in subsequent studies. This project produced two:

NIST GCR 17-917-44, Seismic Analysis, Design, and Installation of Nonstructural Components and Systems – Background and Recommendations for Future Work  (Published 2017, 228 pages)

NIST GCR 18-917-43, Recommendations for Improved Seismic Performance of Nonstructural Components  (Published 2018, 311 pages)

 

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