Seismic Capacity of Threaded, Brazed and Grooved Clamped Joints

A series of static and shake table tests were conducted on threaded, brazed and mechanical pipe joints, commonly used in fire protection systems, to understand their integrity under extreme lateral loads, of the type that would be expected in large earthquakes. This paper presents the measured loads and deflections of the joints up to the point of failure. It also describes the joints’ static and dynamic failure mode. This information can be used to model the joints’ flexibility under large lateral displacements, determine their ultimate capacity, and help understand their leak and rupture characteristics.