With intent to derive appropriate performance criteria for office interiors, a model room was built to accommodate Direct Hung Suspended (DHS) ceilings and office furniture test specimens. Four types of earthquake motions were selected and normalized to the same peak acceleration (PA) for test excitation. Excitation levels at PA equal to 80, 250, 400, 800 and 1500 gal were input at the base of the model room through a shaking table at NCREE in Taiwan. From the test results, the seismic performance of DHS ceilings built with the current ASTM E580 standard out performed the one built similarly but without the 45-degree brace wires and compression struts by a small margin. It is concluded that edge wires and molding connectors are the two most effective measures to increase the seismic capacity of a DHS ceiling. Cabinet overturn can be predicted using Ishiyama's formula with different safety margins according to the different types of floor motion.
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