Shake Table and Numerical Evaluation on the Seismic Performance of Elastic‐boundary Ceiling Systems

ABSTRACT Suspended ceilings are widely used nonstructural systems in modern buildings; however, recent earthquakes have revealed their vulnerability to seismic shaking, often causing functional disruption and prolonged downtime. Existing mitigation strategies, such as placing damping materials in boundary gaps, are often material‐specific and provide limited guidance on the role of variable boundary stiffness. This study proposes an elastic sleeve connection that couples the ceiling perimeter to the surrounding walls through embedded springs with tunable stiffness. Shake table tests were conducted on a full‐scale supporting steel frame‐ceiling assembly under three boundary conditions: free perimeter, rigid restraint using seismic clips, and elastic restraint using the proposed sleeves. Numerical simulations were conducted using a high‐fidelity finite element model and a simplified single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) model. The test results show that the elastic sleeve provides better vibration mitigation than the tested commercial seismic clips. The validated high‐fidelity model further indicates that elastic boundary conditions promote a more uniform internal force distribution across the ceiling system. Analytical solution of the SDOF model under velocity‐pulse excitation showed that neither excessively high nor excessively low connection stiffness minimizes the internal force demand. Comparison with the experimental results showed that the SDOF model captured the dominant response below 10 Hz, though it underestimated higher‐frequency components and some individual response peaks. Subsequent parametric analysis using the SDOF model identified an intermediate low‐response range of connection stiffness for PFAs up to 0.5 g.