Shaking table tests on post-installed traditional and dissipative fasteners in uncracked and cracked concrete

In consideration of the increased community expectations towards the reduction of post-earthquake damage to non-structural elements, even for strong seismic events, and in the context of performance-based design, this paper focuses on the experimental investigation of the seismic behavior of fasteners and practical implementation to improve their performance. In the last decade several laboratory tests have been carried out to better understand the seismic behavior of anchors and a new concept of low-damage solution has been proposed. This earthquake-resistant fastener, referred to as EQ-Rod, relies upon the use of supple-mental damping to reduce the acceleration demand and consequently the force applied to the non-structural component placed on the floors of multi-storey reinforced concrete buildings. Building on this original research, the paper presents a second experimental campaign car-ried out at the Structural Laboratory of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” to extend the investigation and propose solutions to a larger variety of fastening systems (expansion and chemical anchors) and focusing on the behavior in both un-cracked and cracked concrete. A comprehensive set of uniaxial shaking table tests have been performed using a specific apparatus and considering a test matrix with spectra compatible accelerograms. The experimental tests provided satisfactory confirmation of the beneficial effects of the concept of dissipative anchor rod to seismically protect the non-structural components and suggestions are provided to further improve the system.