Experimental Fragility Analysis of Pressurized Fire Sprinkler Piping Systems

Abstract

The seismic performance of nonstructural components, including pressurized fire sprinkler systems, plays a significant role during and after an earthquake. A series of full-scale system-level experiments was conducted at the University of Nevada, Reno Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation site in order to evaluate the seismic performance of integrated ceiling-piping-partition systems. In this study, the performance of fire sprinkler piping systems were evaluated through several design variables. Processing of experimental data led to the calculation of acceleration amplification factors and development of fragility functions. Results show that 50 mm (2.0 in) diameter pipes have the greatest failure probability when evaluating pipe joint rotations.