DESIGN OF NON-STRUCTURAL PARTS

AND COMPONENTS OF BUILDINGS FOR

SEISMIC LOADS IN AUSTRALIA

John Woodside FIEAust, F.ASCE, FICE, FIStrucE, NER, RPEQ

Principal, J Woodside Consulting Pty Ltd
INTRODUCTION
• The design of non-structural parts and components is just as
important as the structure itself.
• In moderate to large earthquakes, failure of non-structural
parts and components invariably leads to difficulty in egressing
the building.
• Occupants will face major business interruption and economic
loss
• The structure of the building only represents about 25% of the
total cost of the building.
• In Australia the NCC sets out the regulatory requirements for
the design of buildings including nonstructural parts and
components but generally ignored.
INTRODUCTION
• The design requirements for nonstructural elements have
largely been ignored in Australia, as insufficient design and
construction information has been available.
• Also architect, designers and services engineers do not have
the experience or technical knowledge to design for seismic
loads.
• As a result the design responsibilities of parts and
components is either given to the builder/contractor, the
supplier or the installer.
• Most of these will struggle with the concepts and as a
consequence the statutory requirements have been in the
past, effectively ignored except on a few larger projects.
DESIGN OF PARTS AND COMPONENTS
• When did it start ??
• Called up in first earthquake code AS 2121 in 1979.
• Also called up in the first edition of AS 1170.4 in 1993 in Section 5 and
with its adoption in the BCA, but was largely ignored.
• Second edition of AS 1170.4 (2007) in Section 8 of the also required
that all parts and components be designed for seismic loads.
• The paper explores some of the issues and problems based on the
author's experience with the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and the
design of non-structural components.
• It reviews what can be done to make all designers including
architects, building services engineers and contractors aware of their
statutory responsibility.
OLIVE VIEW HOSPITAL CALIFORNIA 1971
OLIVE VIEW HOSPITAL CALIFORNIA
• Hospital opened in December 1970 and designed to the then current
seismic standards.
• Severely damaged only three months after it was open in the San Fernando
earthquake on the 9 of February 1971.
• Three people lost their lives, two on life support and one killed by falling
masonry.
• The hospital was abandoned and demolished in 1973.
• Redesigned and rebuilt and the structure performed satisfactorily in the
1994 Northridge earthquake but the building was unusable because of the
failure of building services and nonstructural components.
• The ceiling services and nonstructural elements have now been rebuilt to a
higher standard.
• What will happen next time????
Non structural damage overseas
•
EARLIER EARTHQUAKES IN AUSTRALIA – Adelaide 1954

•
EARLIER EARTHQUAKES IN AUSTRALIA – Meckering 1968

•
EARTHQUAKES IN AUSTRALIA
• Australia has an extensive record of earthquakes
since settlement.
• Failure of non-structural parts and components is
well documented.
• Significant earthquake in Adelaide in 1954.
• Meckering earthquake in WA in 1968 and about
78 buildings collapsed.
AS 1170.4 (1993)

• Section 5 of the Code required detailing and design of

nonstructural parts and components excluding
domestic structures.
• It was hoped that deemed to comply or industry
based standards would be developed as a result of
this code.
• Unfortunately these did not eventuate and except for
some larger projects it was largely ignored.
NEWCASTLE EARTHQUAKE 1989
NEWCASTLE EARTHQUAKE 1989
Nonstructural damage included:-

• Failure of brickwork, ceilings, light fittings was

widespread.
• The new the opening of the new John Hunter
Hospital was delayed by about 18 months and
the damage cost was approximately $6 million.
• Electricity companies suffered failure of
switchyards.
FEMA USA
• In the past earthquake engineering has focused on the
performance of structural systems and how to reduce
structural damage and allow people to escape in the
event of an earthquake. As we move toward to more
comprehensive earthquake requirements and
expectations of improved seismic performance, it is vital
to understand the significance of non-structural damage
and why we need to design for it”.
• Failure of nonstructural components may prevent people
from egressing the building resulting in injuries and
fatalities.
CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKES NZ 2011
• 185 people lost their lives in the earthquake of the 22nd of Feb 2011.
• Most of this loss of life was the CTV building.
• Royal commission reported "egress from a building during an emergency
and the protection of the egress through route should be considered as a
life safety issue, and consequently the means of as egress should perform
adequately in an ultimate limit state event. This also applies to building
elements that could fail and injure people underneath.
Structural engineers focus on the primary structure, with ancillaries
structure generally being managed by the designer responsible for the
architectural elements. There is often no overall supervision of the
structure within the building by a person with knowledge of how the
building is expected to behave in an earthquake“.
CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKES NZ
NEW ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL 2016
NEW ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL THE TIDE HAS TURNED
The NRAH required all non-structural parts and components to be
designed for earthquake loads including:
• All services including ductwork, sprinklers, and the like,
• All partition walls and windows,
• All suspended ceilings and there were about 17 hectares weighing
about 225 tonnes in total
• All door frames and joinery,
• All shelving,
• All clean rooms and so the list went on;
DESIGN SUSPENDED T- BAR CEILINGS TO THE NRAH
• The structural engineer provided the floor accelerations afloor and the
expected storey drifts.
• This information then allowed Clause 8.2 of AS 1170.4 to be used for
designing parts and components.
• Lateral forces were about 20% of the seismic weight and the vertical loads
were 10% of the seismic weight although vertical loads did not apply to all
elements.
• Clauses 8.2 and 8.3 requires a component factor Rc = 2.5 i.e. all fixings to
be designed for an ultimate load of 2.5 x 20% = 50 % of the ultimate load.
• All fasteners (fixings) had to be designed for cracked concrete with seismic
rating.
• This requirement for the seismic design of parts and components, shook up
all subcontractors and the fixing industry in SA.
• Many sub-contractors tendered on the project without fully understanding
these requirements initially, even though they were clearly set out in the
specification and drawings.
DESIGN OF THE SUSPENDED T- BAR CEILINGS NRAH

•
DESIGN SUSPENDED T- BAR CEILINGS TO THE NRAH
• While some minor damage to the ceiling can be expected
under seismic actions, the main requirements for designing
suspended T-bar ceilings for earthquake actions is to avoid
significant damage and collapse.
• Some minor damage as some local buckling or bending of
the T-bar system or local damage to the tiles particularly at
the edges.
• Significant damage would be the collapse of ceiling system,
the falling of a large number tiles to the floor below or the
dropping of services such as light fittings supported by the
ceilings to the floor below.
DESIGN SUSPENDED T- BAR CEILINGS TO THE NRAH
• To provide a suspension system strong enough to
resist lateral forces imposed upon it without
failing.
• To prevent ceiling tiles in a T-bar system and
plasterboard sheets from fixed ceilings falling to
the floor.
• To avoid light fittings and duct registers supported
by the ceiling falling to the floor below.
SA GOVERNMENT
CONCLUSIONS
• Seismic design of nonstructural parts and components is a
relatively simple and basic structural engineering design task by
applying a “notional” lateral and vertical seismic forces and
then designing for them.
• The NRAH project has clearly shown, that after some initial
efforts, the design of nonstructural components is possible,
practicable and not excessively expensive.
• There is now enough experience in the industry to design all
non-structural elements for all projects in Australia.
• It is time we got this part of the seismic design
jigsaw in Australia in place for the effective design
of parts and components for seismic loads.