Modeling of Cladding Panels of Industrial Single-Story RC Precast Buildings

This paper aims at presenting a new model of cladding panels of single-story RC precast buildings. Recent post-earthquake surveys show the high vulnerability of cladding panel-to-structure connections, which failure caused large economic and human losses. Two different three-dimensional nonlinear models are defined: i. a bare model, where the panels are only modeled in terms of mass applied in the floor center of mass; ii. Panels are modelled in terms of mass and stiffness and panel-to-structure connection behavior is taken into account. Panel-to-structure connections are modelled according to recent experimental force-displacement curves. The progressive collapse of the panels during the earthquake is also simulated. A comparison between the bare model and the model with panel is finally carried out.