Seismic response of short restrainers used to protect cladding panels in RC precast buildings

摘要

In the presented study, a second-line back-up system for the seismic protection of cladding panels in RC precast buildings is first presented. The system consists of special anchoring elements and a rope restrainer. The latter is activated only in the case when the existing connections between the primary structure and the panel fail, resulting in the occurrence of relatively large impact forces in the restrainer and in the anchoring elements. In order to adequately design the constitutive parts of the system, a simple yet sufficiently accurate procedure for the estimation of the impact forces is needed. A relatively easy-to-use formula was therefore proposed for this purpose. Next, an extensive parametric study, using response history analysis (RHA), was performed and the influence of several parameters affecting the impact forces in the restrainers was studied. The results obtained in the study were used to evaluate the proposed analytical formula. Considering the simplicity of the proposed formula, its accuracy was good. It can therefore be applied to the design of short restrainers which could be used in reinforced concrete (RC) precast buildings for the protection of cladding panels against the effects of earthquakes.