Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of a Typical Sprinkler Piping System in Hospitals

Experimental Study on Seismic Behavior of a Typical Sprinkler Piping System in Hospitals

It is evident from the past earthquake experiences of hospitals that damaged sprinkler piping systems heavily impact the functionality of the hospital and take a long time to rehabilitate the operation. An example of this was observed in a responsibility hospital during the Taiwan Jiashian earthquake in 2010, when a broken sprinkler piping system caused serious flooding that reduced medical functionality. To ensure that the immediate needs of emergency medical services provided by hospitals after strong earthquakes are not interrupted, this paper introduces a research program on assessment and improvement strategies for typical configurations of sprinkler piping systems in hospitals. A horizontal piping subsystem with an original configuration of the aforementioned seismically damaged sprinkler piping system is duplicated for shaking table tests. Furthermore, piping subsystems with a variety of seismic-resistant devices, such as braces, flexible pipes, and mechanical couplings, are tested. The test results show that the main cause of damage is the poor shear capacity of the screwed fitting of the small-bore tee branch. The optimum improvement strategy to achieve higher nonstructural performance for the piping subsystem is to strengthen the main pipe with braces and to decrease shear demands on the tee branch by the use of flexible pipes.