The Mexico Earthquake of September 19,1985—Behavior of Heavy Cladding Components

A combined field study of building cladding performance during the 1985 Mexico earthquake and supporting analytical and experimental studies of cladding systems, typical of those used in Mexico City, are described. Results reported are from an on-going research effort which is broken down into three phases: (I) Nonstructural damage survey and evaluation for selected buildings in Mexico City; (II) Laboratory testing of cladding connections representative of Mexican practice; and (III) Analytical evaluation of a case study building for cladding-structure interaction effects. This study of the behavior of architectural cladding systems in the Mexico Earthquake is complementary to earlier work involving laboratory testing and analytical studies of cladding connection designs typical of U.S. practice. The data gathering, laboratory experimental, and analytical phases were designed to provide a balanced and coordinated attack on the problem of nonstructural performance in earthquakes and to extraction of as much useful information as possible for the benefit of both Mexico and the United States.