Claddings serve architectural purposes and at the same time act as protective or insulating layer in prefabricated RC structures. Postulating that claddings are non-structural elements, their complexity due to the variability in material, shape, configuration, connection etc. is often overlooked despite numerous failures observed in past earthquakes. The research work presented here suggests that a structural role for the cladding system may be reasonable as long as it is taken into account during the design process. Such a consideration presupposes that the response of the cladding system is known and successfully controlled during an earthquake by means of using appropriate advanced connectors, capable of dissipating energy, the structural features of which are well established. A dissipative connector is the type of device that exhibits enhanced properties in terms of ductility and damping and constitutes a key element in the new concept of designing the cladding system participating in the response. This work thus proposes a displacement-based methodology for the design of RC precast structures with claddings that is validated with analyses results from nonlinear time-history analyses.
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