A significant amount of research has been done in order to evaluate and improve the seismic performance of the lateral load resisting system in building structures; however, there still exists a need to study the behavior of non-structural systems during an earthquake. In order to address this issue, shaking table tests were performed to look at the behavior of non-structural gypsum board partition walls typically found in steel frame structures. Both a traditional Japanese hanging ceiling system and a seismically designed hanging ceiling system were also studied. The results suggested that the non-structural partition walls undergo a rocking behavior when perpendicular walls are framed into them. In general, stiffness and damping values were large enough to affect the overall behavior of a structure. Both types of hanging ceiling systems sustained only minimal damage and performed as designed. However, the seismically designed ceiling system underwent large accelerations due to pounding with the partition walls at drift levels greater than 1/66 radians.
