Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Modal identification of infill masonry walls with different characteristics

André Furtado a, Hugo Rodrigues b,⇑, António Arêde a, Humberto Varum a
a
CONSTRUCT – LESE, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal
b
RISCO – School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Portugal

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A significant number of structural damages observed in reinforced concrete (RC) structures that occurred
Received 9 October 2016 in regions affected by earthquakes are due to the presence of the infill masonry walls (IMW). Survey of
Revised 27 April 2017 the structural damages caused by earthquakes reported that the infills panels had an important contri-
Accepted 3 May 2017
bution in the seismic response of the buildings, namely through the modification of the natural period
of the structure due to the increase of the structural lateral stiffness provided. Different failure mecha-
nisms were observed, in particular the infills’ out-of-plane (OOP) collapse that can have important con-
Keywords:
sequences for the structure and for the human life’s. The infills’ OOP seismic performance depends on
Infill masonry walls
Out-of-plane
different variables such as the wall geometry, existence of openings, boundary conditions, slenderness
Modal identification and existence of previous damage.
Ambient vibration tests This manuscript presents an experimental study of ambient vibration tests on IMW with the main goal
of characterize the dynamic properties such as the in-plane and OOP frequencies of the panel and the cor-
responding vibration modes. For this, two different campaigns were carried out: i) in-situ tests were car-
ried out in IMW of three infilled RC structures with aim of capture the OOP frequencies and vibration
modes of infill panels with different characteristics and evaluate the influence of each variable; ii) labo-
ratory tests were carried out on a full-scale infilled RC frame in order to evaluate the natural frequencies
evolution along the period after construction. Additionally, it was evaluated the effect of the axial load in
the adjacent RC columns and also the existence of damage on the IMW natural frequencies and corre-
sponding vibration modes. From the results, it was observed that the openings reduced the OOP frequen-
cies around 20–40%, the axial load increment in the adjacent columns increased the OOP stiffness and
consequently the natural frequencies of the panel.
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and strength provided by these elements must be considered in the

The contribution of the infill masonry walls (IMW) presence to
the building’s seismic performance can be favorable or not,
depending on a series of phenomena [1]. Different authors defend
that aspects such as the infills mechanical properties, the plan and
height distribution of the IMW, the relative stiffness and strength
between the frame and the IMW, type of connection between the
IMW and the frame, among others can influence significantly the
buildings performance when subjected to earthquakes [2–6].
Over the time the IMW were considered as non-structural ele-
ments and their influence in the structural seismic response was
not taken into account, being only considered for the gravity loads.
Nowadays is accepted by the overall community that the stiffness
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: afurtado@fe.up.pt (A. Furtado), Hugo.f.rodrigues@ipleiria.pt
(H. Rodrigues), aarede@fe.up.pt (A. Arêde), hvarum@fe.up.pt (H. Varum).
numerical models and in the analytical calculations in the seismic
assessment of a reinforced concrete (RC) structure.
On the other hand, the IMW demonstrated in the recent earth-
quakes high vulnerability when subjected to out-of-plane (OOP)
loadings (Fig. 1). Innumerous IMW collapses were observed to be
at risk endangering human lives and considerably increasing the
repair/rehabilitation costs of buildings. Different factors can con-
tribute the OOP instability and the IMW poor seismic performance,
namely: high panel slenderness, deficient/insufficient support-
width on the RC beams and/or slabs [7], which practice is normally
adopted to minimize/revise the thermal bridges effect; no connec-
tion between IMW and the surrounding RC frame elements; no
connection between the interior and the exterior panel, in the case
of double-leaf IMW; and existence of previous damages [8].
The in-plane drift demands that IMW are subjected to during an
earthquake event can introduce some damage to the panel that can
affect their OOP capacity in terms of strength, ductility and

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.05.003
0141-0296/Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134
Fig. 1. Examples of IMW collapses due to OOP demands in L’Aquila earthquake caused by: a) no connection between the internal and external leaf and insufficient support
width; and b) very reduced thickness of the IMW and no connection between the panel and the surrounding RC frame.
Fig. 2. IMW ambient vibration tests methodology: a) schematic layout of the tests
setup; b) general view of the test setup; and c) acquisition device.
119
Fig. 3. Modal identification of IMW test results: a) evolution of the acceleration
along the time; b) identification of the spectral peaks; c) OOP vibration mode; and
d) in-plane vibration mode (green – mode shape; blue – original position). (For
interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred
to the web version of this article.)
contribute to fragile collapses as observed by different authors that
combined in-plane and OOP cyclic tests [9,10].
It is consensual that further and in-depth knowledge concern-
ing the infill panels OOP behaviour is needed in order to support
the development and calibration of precise numerical models that
can simulate accurately their seismic performance and that enable
the development of efficient retrofit strategies that can improve
the IMW seismic capacity.
Varum et al. [11] carried out in Nepal after the 25th April earth-
quake some ambient vibration tests on damaged and non-
damaged IMW with the aim of characterize their OOP dynamic
properties and understand the influence of the damage and open-
ings in their OOP frequencies. It was concluded by the authors that
the openings and the damage reduced significantly the OOP fre-
quencies of the IMW. Different modal and dynamic identification
methods can be found in the literature for different civil engineer-
ing fields [12–17].The testing methodology and approach adopted
by Varum et al. [11] revealed to be efficient in capture of the nat-
ural frequencies and vibration modes of the specimens studied.
This manuscript presents an experimental study composed by
ambient vibration tests on IMW that were performed to determine
the IMW in-plane and OOP frequencies and corresponding vibra-
tion modes. Two different testing campaigns were carried out in-
situ and in laboratory conditions with different goals. Several
IMW with different characteristics from three RC buildings were
120 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

Fig. 3 (continued)
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134
tested in-situ with the objective of evaluate the influence of differ-
ent variables in the OOP frequencies. The variables studied were: i)
IMW geometry (height and length); ii) IMW slenderness; iii) bor-
der constraints and iv) IMW openings.
Secondly, ambient vibration tests were performed in laboratory
in order to obtain the in-plane and OOP frequencies and vibration
modes of a full-scale infilled RC frame along the period after con-
struction, and for different axial load levels in the adjacent col-
umns. Finally, the effect of existence of damage on the IMW
frequencies was evaluated. Along the present manuscript, the main
test results and findings will be presented and discussed as well as
the details regarding each IMW studied and the testing methodol-
ogy and setups adopted.
2. Methodology
The present experimental work aims to study the IMW dynamic
characteristics and understand the effect of some variables such as
the panel geometry, openings, panel slenderness, axial load and the
border constrains. For this ambient vibration tests is essential to
instrument the infill panels with the sufficient number of
accelerometers that allow to capture parameters such as OOP fre-
quencies and/or damping.
No information regarding this type of experimental tests can be
found in literature due to several reasons: i) lack of information
regarding the infill panel’s dynamic characteristics and facility to
Fig. 4. Building A: a) plant disposition; and b) general view.
121
understand all the aspects that could influence their dynamic char-
acteristics; ii) no access provided by the owners of the buildings to
their interior to carried out the tests; and finally iii) need of study
the original infill panel behaviour without introduction any type of
damage or introduction of local stiffness points due to the connec-
tion of the accelerometers.
The ambient vibration tests were performed using four differ-
ent components: accelerometers PCB Piezotronics model 393B31
(0.5 g, 10.0 V/g, frequencies range samples 0.01–200 Hz); coaxial
cables Piezotronics model 024R10; 3 devices NI USB-9162 from
National Instruments that allow to acquire data results of twelve
accelerometers simultaneously; and finally, a computer, as can
be illustrated in Fig. 2. The methodology adopted to conduct
the ambient vibration tests is based on the following five
procedures:
i) Definition of the test setup, namely the number and disposi-
tion of the accelerometers. This decision is conditioned by
the infill panel geometry, existence of openings and boarder
constraints. Several tests were performed in laboratory to
evaluate the minimum number of accelerometers that are
necessary to capture the 1st OOP frequency of an infill panel,
four boarders constrained and with no openings. From the
tests, it was concluded that the minimum number of
accelerometers is 5 accelerometers, which disposition is
illustrated in the Fig. 2a;
122 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

300x200x110mm
a)

200
110

110 300 300

b) c) d)

300x200x150mm
a)

200
150

150 300 300

b) c) d)

300x200x220mm
a)

200 220

220 300 300

b) c) d)
Fig. 5. Brick type geometric dimensions t = 110 mm; t = 150 mm and t = 220 mm a) Brick general view b) Front dimensions c) lateral dimensions and d) upper dimensions
(dimensions units in millimeters).

ii) Placement of the accelerometers to the infill panel through a
steel plate that are fixed. This fixation of the steel plate to
the infill panel can be realized mechanically or using glue
or similar material (Fig. 2a);
iii) Connection of the accelerometers to the NI USB9162 devices
through coaxial cables (Fig. 2b);
iv) Connection between the NI USB9162 devices and the PC
through USB cables (Fig. 2c);
v) Start the data acquisition through three sets of measure-
ments throughout time periods of 15 min (Fig. 3a).
The modal analysis was carried out through the peak picking
and frequency domain decomposition (FDD) techniques
(Fig. 3a and b), implemented in the ARTeMIS Extractor software
[18], from which the natural frequencies and the corresponding
vibration modes were captured. More details regarding this tech-
nique can be found in Ref. [13].
It is observed that the main OOP vibration mode of an infill
masonry panel is characterized by the mobilization of all the
panel for the same OOP direction at the same time, with particu-
lar emphasis in the center of the panel, as observed in Fig. 3c. It is
possible also to find different symmetric and asymmetric OOP
modes, however this work is particular focuses in the 1st OOP
vibration mode. Regarding the capture of the 1st in-plane natural
frequency of the infill panel, it must be take into account that this
frequency depends of the contribution of the surrounding RC
frame since both behave together over the time. The typical 1st
in-plane mode configuration of an infilled RC frame is plotted in
Fig. 3d and is characterized by progressive increased deformation
along the panel and the columns height. Note that these consid-
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 123

Table 1
Building A: Tested IMW characteristics.

Wall L H Thickness Opening Área of Openings Floor

(m) (m) (m) the area (m2) location
panel
(m2)
A1 3.50 1.30 0.11 No 4.55 – GF
A2 3.50 1.30 0.11 No 4.55 – GF
A3 3.55 3.20 0.11 No 11.36 – GF
A4 3.20 0.95 0.11 No 3.04 – GF
A5 3.55 3.20 0.11 No 11.36 – GF
A6 2.75 3.20 0.11 Door 8.8 2.10 GF
A7 2.45 3.20 0.11 Door 8.8 2.10 GF
A8 5.00 1.75 0.15 No 8.75 – 4
A9 2.75 2.30 0.15 No 6.33 – 4
A10 3.60 1.00 0.11 No 3.6 – 3
A11 3.20 2.80 0.22 Window 8.96 3.05 3
A12 3.40 2.80 0.22 No 9.52 – 3
A13 3.70 2.80 0.22 No 10.36 – 3
A14 2.10 3.20 0.11 No 6.72 – 3

The architectural and structural description of the buildings will

be presented as well as the characteristics of the infill panels
tested. Finally, the global results will be presented and
discussed in terms of the influence of variables such as
geometric dimensions, border constraints, slenderness, and
openings.

3.1. Building A

3.1.1. Architectural and structural description

Fig. 6. Building A – IMW general view: a) partially supported; b) double leaf
interior partition wall; and c) interior partition wall.
erations were performed for infill panels with the 4 boarders
constrained.
3. Ambient vibration measurements in selected buildings
This section presents an experimental campaign of ambient
vibration tests performed in IMW of three buildings in Portugal.
The building A is a residential habitation under construction
and located in Porto (Portugal), in the central part of the city. The
structure has a rectangular geometry, as can be observed in
Fig. 4, with a ground floor area of 485m2 and a total height of
22.5 m (four storeys plus the ground-floor). The building structure
is composed by 6 transversal alignments and 4 in the longitudinal
direction.
The external and internal IMW are constituted by hollow clay
bricks with different thicknesses (110 mm, 150 mm and
220 mm), which are representative of those bricks used in some
southern countries with horizontal perforation. In Fig. 5 is detailed
the geometric dimensions of each brick type.
The building A is characterized by a vertical irregularity
regarding the distribution of the IMW, where exists a reduced
number of interior partition walls in the ground-floor for com-
mercial purposes. It was observed that some exterior partition
walls were built partially supported (3/4 of the 220 mm thickness
brick) on the bottom beams or slabs for thermal bridges correc-
tion (Fig. 6a). Regarding the interior partition walls they are com-
posed by one-leaf walls with thickness of 110 mm (Fig. 6b) and
the remaining by double-leaf panels, 110 + 110 mm with the
gap between the leafs filled with styrofoam plates, as observed
in Fig. 6c.
Some authors carried out mechanical characterization tests in
order to obtain the mechanical properties of infill masonry wallets
made of hollow clay bricks with thickness 110 mm and 150 mm.
Pereira [19] obtained for the wallets with thickness 110 mm a
mean compressive strength of 1.34 MPa, a mean flexure strength
parallel to bed joints of 0.37 MPa and perpendicular to bed joints
of 0.56 MPa. Furtado et al. [10] obtained for masonry wallets with
the same thickness a mean compressive strength of 0.7 MPa, a
diagonal tensile shear strength of 0.6 MPa, a flexure strength paral-
lel to the bed joints of 0.13 MPa and perpendicular to the bed joints
of 0.32 MPa.
124 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

Regarding masonry wallets of 150 mm thickness, Furtado et al.
[10] obtained a mean compressive strength of 1.1 MPa, a compres-
sive elasticity modulus of 941.9 MPa, diagonal tensile shear
strength of 0.60 MPa and finally a parallel and perpendicular flex-
ural strength to the horizontal bed joints of 0.11 MPa and
0.379 MPa respectively.
No mechanical properties were found in the literature regarding
masonry infill wallets made by hollow clay bricks with thickness
220 mm.
3.1.2. Description of the tested IMW
Fourteen IMW with different dimensions (length L and height
H), different thickness, openings and border constraints were
tested. All the tested walls were made by horizontal clay bricks
with three different thicknesses (110 mm, 150 mm and 220 mm).
Some of the tested panels had wires drilled for electrical electricity
(walls A11, A12 and A13) which could affect the data results. In
Table 1 is summarized the main IMW characteristics and in
Fig. 7 is illustrated the geometry of each one.

A1 A2

A4

A3

A5 A6

A8

A7
Fig. 7. Building A – Tested IMW geometries.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 125

A10

A9

A11 A12

A13
A14
Fig. 7 (continued)

Table 2
Building A: Ambient vibration test results.

Wall H/L D (m) l ¼ 1  Aopenings

LH
Opening Border constraints 1st OOP Frequency (Hz)

A1 0.37 3.73 1 No 4 BC 31.7

A2 0.37 3.73 1 No 4 BC 24.5
A3 0.90 4.78 1 No 3 BC 16.5
A4 0.29 3.33 1 No 3 BC 22.4
A5 0.90 4.78 1 No 4 BC 30.0
A6 0.86 4.22 0.76 Door 4 BC 22.5
A7 0.77 4.03 0.73 Door 4 BC 22.7
A8 0.35 5.30 1 No 3 BC 18.0
A9 0.84 5.59 1 No 4 BC 34.2
A10 0.28 3.74 1 No 4 BC 34.1
A11 0.88 4.25 0.66 Door 4 BC 11.5
A12 0.82 4.40 1 No 4 BC 28.2
A13 0.76 4.64 1 No 4 BC 27.6
A14 0.66 3.83 1 No 3 BC 14.7

3.1.3. Experimental results the specimens was performed from which the first natural
The data acquisition of the acceleration measurements by the frequency of every single panels was captured and the results
accelerometers was performed, as previously stated, by using are summarized in Table 2. For a better understanding of the
LabVIEW SignalExpress software [20]. The modal analysis of results, different variables were considered: IMW height/length,
126 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

40 40
Building A t=22cm Building A
t=15cm t=22cm
35
t=11cm t=15cm

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)
t=11cm
30 30

25

20 20

15

10 10

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Wall number H/L
a) b)
40 40
Building A Building A
t=22cm 35
t=22cm
35
t=15cm t=15cm

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

t=11cm t=11cm
30 30

25 25

20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
D (m) µ
c) d)

Fig. 8. Building A test results: a) 1st OOP frequency; b) OOP frequency vs ratio H/L; c) OOP frequency vs diagonal D and d) OOP frequency vs l.

infill panel diagonal D, openings area and border frequency (about 1%). The walls A12 and A13 have the same height
constraints. and thickness however the fundamental difference is the panel
From the results of the ambient vibration tests, plotted in length and the existence of previous rips in the wall for the instal-
Fig. 8a, it can be observed that the walls with openings lation of the electric equipment. It can be observed that the Wall
(A6, A7 and A11) did not achieved OOP frequencies higher than 12, with less length, achieved about 3% higher OOP frequency.
25 Hz. The walls composed by hollow clay bricks of 110 mm Finally, no significative relationship is observed between the open-
reached OOP frequencies ranging from 15 to 35 Hz. The panels ings and the infill panels OOP frequencies due to the reduced data
with thickness of 150 mm ranged from 17 to 35 Hz and (Fig. 8d).
finally the walls with thickness 220 mm varied between 12 Hz
and 30 Hz.
From the results, it is observed that IMW with 4 borders 3.2. Building B
constrained (4BC) are 20–60% higher than the ones obtained by
panels with 3 borders constrained (3BC). 3.2.1. Architectural and structural description
From the H/L relationship, illustrated in Fig. 8b, a large variation The second group of tests were carried out on a residential
of results was obtained. As for example the walls A1 and A2 have building (Building B), located in Gaia (Portugal). The building has
the same relation H/L, geometry and boarder constraints, however a regular geometry with a ground-floor area of 275 m2, four
the results were 25% different which can be explained by the exe- upper-storeys including the ground-floor, which performs a total
cution of the infill panel bed joints that can affect the infills OOP height of 16 m. The building structure is composed by 6 transversal
behavior. alignments and 4 longitudinal alignments, as illustrated in
Regarding the influence of the dimension D on the infill panels Fig. 9.
OOP frequencies (Fig. 8c) it can be observed some dispersion of the The infill panels in building B are made by hollow clay bricks
results which can be justified with the remaining variables that with thickness 110 mm. Different IMW typologies were found,
affect the infills OOP behavior. For example, the walls 3 and 5 have such as IMW with windows, doors, window plus door in the
the same geometric dimensions H, L and thickness but the main same wall. It was observed a slight increase of the openings size
difference is that the wall 5 has all boarders constrained. Due to in the ground-floor walls. Part of the exterior partition walls
this the OOP frequency obtained for the wall 5 is 50% higher. The were composed by one-leaf infill walls with thickness 110 mm
walls 6 and 7 have the same height, thickness and the difference and the remaining ones composed by double-leaf panels
between them is the panel length, and it was observed that the 110 + 110 mm with the gap between the leafs filled with
wall A6 with largest L (with L = 2.75 m) achieved lower OOP styrofoam plates.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 127

Wall B1

(a)

Wall B2

Wall B3
Fig. 10. Building B – Tested IMW geometries.
(b)
Fig. 9. Building B: a) plant disposition; and b) general overview.

3.2.2. Description of the tested IMW
Three exterior IMW located in the third storey, with the same
thickness, geometry and border constraints were tested in Building
B. The infill walls were made of hollow clay bricks with thickness
110 mm. In Table 3 is described the main characteristics of each
wall tested and the geometric dimensions are plotted in Fig. 10.
3.2.3. Experimental results
Table 4 presents the experimental OOP frequencies obtained for
each IMW tested. From the results it can be observed that the wall
B3 achieved higher OOP frequency which can be explained due to
the absence of openings and because, as observed in Building A,
has a shorter length than the wall A1, which increases the infill
panel OOP stiffness (Fig. 11a).
From the relationship between the OOP frequency and the ratio
H/L (Fig. 11b) it was observed that the lower H/L ratio of wall B1
achieved less 20% than the wall B3. It can be observed that the wall
B2 OOP frequency is clearly influenced by the existence of the
opening that reduce significantly the panel frequency. It is also
observed in Fig. 11c that the with the increase of the diagonal
dimension it was obtained lower OOP frequencies, as proved by
the wall B3. Finally, it is observed that the existence of the open-
ings (20% of the panel area) reduced the OOP frequency about
20% (Fig. 11d).
3.3. Building C
3.3.1. Architectural and structural description
The third group of in-situ tests were carried out in Building C,
located in Viseu (Portugal) and represents the typical construction

Table 3
Building B: Tested IMW characteristics.

Wall L (m) H (m) Thickness (m) Opening Área of the panel (m2) Openings area (m2) Floor location
B1 3.90 2.70 0.11 No 4.55 – 3th
B2 3.80 2.70 0.11 Window 4.55 2.25 3th
B3 3.50 2.70 0.11 No 11.36 – 3th
128 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

Table 4 The infill walls are made by hollow clay bricks with thicknesses
Building B: Ambient vibration results. 80 mm, 110 mm and 150 mm. Different number of IMW typologies
Wall H/L D l ¼ 1  Aopenings Opening Border 1st OOP can be found in Building C, namely the exterior walls are usually
LH
(m) constraints Frequency walls with openings (such as windows or doors). The exterior par-
(Hz) tition walls are composed by double-leaf panels with different
B1 0.70 4.74 1 No 4 BC 22.4 combinations such as 110 + 110 mm, 80 mm + 110 mm or
B2 0.71 4.66 0.79 Yes 4 BC 18.2 150 mm + 110 mm with the gap between the leafs filled with sty-
B3 0.77 4.42 1 No 4 BC 27.3
rofoam plates.

3.3.2. Description of the tested IMW

The experimental campaign carried out in Building C consisted
in three exterior IMW, located in different storeys. The walls C1
of the sixty’s decade in Portugal (Fig. 12). The block plan is
and C2 are double-leaf IMW with different characteristics, namely
rectangular with 11.45 m width, 17.40 m length (Fig. 12c), and
the wall C1 is composed by two panels with thickness 150 mm
the building has the height of 4 habitation storeys plus the
+ 80 mm and the wall C2 is 150 + 110 mm. Both have different
ground-floor’ height, performing a total of 13.30 m. The main
types of openings as summarized in Table 5. These two double-
structural system (6 parallel plane frames) characterizes the
leaf walls were tested in both interior and exterior panel indepen-
building architecture. The distance between the frames’ axes is
dently. The wall C3 is a rectangular wall with no opening with
about 3.80 m.
110 mm thickness. In Fig. 13 is illustrated the general view of the
The first floor corresponds to a basement/garage and without
walls C3 and C1_ext during the ambient vibration tests. Table 5
interior partition walls. Above this level there are four successive
summarizes the main characteristics of each infill panel tested in
habitable floors, and the entrance from the front facade is located
Building C.
at the second floor level. Finally, the top floor is accessible and
For this building, due to the particularity of the IMW under
has small individual spaces for residents put some of their
studied (double-leaf infill panels), the instrumentation was
belonging.

40 40
Building B Building B
t=11 cm 35
t=11cm
Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)
Out-of-plane 1 frequency (Hz)

30 30

25

20 20
st

15

10 10

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Wall number H/L

a) b)
40 40
Building B Building B
t=11cm t=11cm
35 35
Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)
Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

30 30

25 25

20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5

0 0
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
D (m) µ
c) d)
Fig. 11. Building B test results: a) 1st OOP frequency; b) OOP frequency vs ratio H/L; c) OOP frequency vs diagonal D and d) OOP frequency vs l.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 129

for 20 accelerometers in the case of walls with no openings (Wall

C3) and 8 accelerometers for the walls (C1 and C2 int and ext). In
Fig. 14 is illustrated the geometry of each IMW.

3.3.3. Experimental results

In Table 6 is presented the data results obtained for each of
the IMW tested. From the results it can be observed that walls
with openings have similar OOP frequencies independent of the
panel thickness, namely differences of 0.2% between C1_int
and C2_ext and 12% between C2_int and C2_ext). It can be
observed that the double-leaf IMW reaches OOP frequencies
significantly higher than the single leaf walls, around two times
higher.
Regarding the ratio H/L (Fig. 15b) it is observed that for similar
H/L there is a high variation of the results. For example for H/L
around 0.75 there is a variation since 31 Hz until 65 Hz depending
on the panel thickness and openings. Similar observation can be
performed through the analysis of the relationship between the
diagonal dimensions D and the OOP frequencies of the walls
(Fig. 15c). Finally it is observed that the panel C3 obtained the
lower OOP frequency when compared with the panels with exis-
tence of openings (Fig. 15d).

3.4. Global results

All the results obtained from the ambient vibration tests

Fig. 12. Building C a) General view b) Transversal view and c) Building plan.
modified (as observed in Fig. 13) in order to compare the modal
characteristics of the interior and the exterior partition panels.
For this tests, the number of accelerometers adopted increased
carried out in the three buildings were analyzed together in
order to perform global comparisons and evaluate the effect of
the panel dimensions, openings, thickness and border
constraints in the infill panels OOP frequencies. In Fig. 16a is
plotted the distribution of the OOP frequencies of each group
of panel thickness according to the ratio H/L. For panels with
thickness of 11 cm no significant variations can be observed
and the OOP frequencies ranges from 15 Hz to 35 Hz (except
in the case of the interior leaf of the double-leaf panel). For
the panels with thickness 15 cm it can be observed that with
the increase of the H/L ratio the OOP frequencies increases.
Regarding the influence of the diagonal dimension D in the
OOP frequencies of the walls it can be observed (Fig. 16b) a
decrease of the frequencies with the increase of the dimension
D. Regarding the influence of the openings in the OOP frequen-
cies (Fig. 16c) it can be stated that further tests are needed to
extract conclusions about these influence and to quantify their
influence.
In Fig. 16d is plotted the variation of the panels 1st OOP fre-
quency with the panel thickness and it is observed that there is
no direct relationship between the increase of the panel thickness
and the corresponding frequencies. Through the comparison of the
panels without any opening it is observed that the wall with
thickness 15 cm reached the higher 1st OOP frequency and the
wall with thickness 22 cm reached the lower one (around 50%
lower).

Table 5
Building C: Tested IMW characteristics.

Wall L (m) H (m) Thickness (m) Opening Área of the panel (m2) Openings area (m2) Floor location
C1_int 3.15 2.55 0.08 Window 8.16 2.94 1th
C1_ext 3.15 2.55 0.15 Window 8.16 2.94 1th
C2_int 3.05 2.55 0.11 Door 7.78 4 3th
C2_ext 3.05 2.55 0.15 Door 7.78 4 3th
C3 3.50 2.80 0.11 No 11.36 – 3th
130 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

Fig. 13. Building C: General view of the tested IMW a) Wall C3 b) Wall C1_ext.

4. Modal identification of infill masonry walls constructed

under laboratory conditions

4.1. Specimen description

In the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering it

was conducted an experimental characterization of the OOP capac-
ity of full scale IMW [10] and for this it was built one full-scale
infilled RC frames. The general dimensions of the specimen are
4.80  3.30 m and the cross sections of the RC columns and beams
are 0.30  0.30 m and 0.30  0.50 m, respectively (Fig. 17).
These dimensions were found to be representative of those exist-
ing in the Portuguese building stock [21], in the sequence of a sta-
tistical study performed on 80 existing RC buildings in Portugal
Wall C1 – Double-leaf IMW where was collected information of more than 300 RC elements
(beams and columns) and 1500 IMW. In Fig. 18 are presented some
of the results obtained regarding the beams length, width and
height.
Horizontal hollow clay bricks with thickness of 150 mm were
adopted, performing a infill panel dimension of 2.30  4.20 m. No
reinforcement was used to connect the infill panel and the
surrounding RC frame. Between the panel and the surrounding
frame there is only the mortar bed joint with average thickness
of 1 cm.
Ambient vibration tests were performed along the period
after construction to evaluate the evolution of the in-plane
and OOP frequencies through the time. Additionally, 42 days
after the construction of the panel, different axial load levels
Wall C2 - Double-leaf IMW were applied in the top of the adjacent RC frame columns in
order to evaluate their influence in the infill panel OOP
frequencies. Along the next sub-sections further details of the
test setup and the main results obtained will be presented
and discussed.

Table 6
Building C: Ambient vibration test results.

Wall H/L D l ¼ 1  Aopenings

LH
Opening Border 1st OOP
(m) constraints Frequency
(Hz)
C1_int 0.64 4.05 0.63 Yes 4 BC 53.57
C1_ext 0.64 4.05 0.63 Yes 4 BC 53.48
C2_int 0.75 3.82 0.49 Yes 4 BC 64.45
Wall C3 – single leaf IMW. C2_ext 0.75 3.82 0.49 Yes 4 BC 57.13
C3 0.77 4.42 1 No 4 BC 31.56
Fig. 14. Building C – geometry of the tested IMW.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 131

t=15cm Building C 75
Building C
t=8cm t=15cm
60
t=11cm t=11cm
Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

60

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

t=8cm

40 45

30

20

15

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Wall number H/L
a) b)
75 75
Building C Building C
t=15cm t=15cm
t=11cm t=11cm
60 t=8cm 60

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

Out-of-plane 1 frequency (Hz)

t=8cm

45 45
st

30 30

15 15

0 0
2 3 4 5 6 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
D (m) µ
c) d)
Fig. 15. Building C test results: a) 1st OOP frequency; b) OOP frequency vs ratio H/L; c) OOP frequency vs D and d) OOP frequency vs l.

4.2. Test setup In Fig. 19a and b is illustrated the evolution of the OOP and in
plane frequencies, and it can be observed that no significant
The realization of the ambient vibration tests were carried out variances occurs for the period after 4 days of construction.
through the use of twelve accelerometers that were distributed After the OOP static airbag test it was carried out an additional
along the RC frame (7 accelerometers) and the infill panel (5 ambient vibration test in order to evaluate the influence of previ-
accelerometers) as illustrated in Fig. 18. The main purpose was ous damage on the in-plane and OOP frequencies (red symbol) of
to capture the in-plane and OOP frequencies of the infilled RC the panel. From the results, it can be observed 35% reduction of
frame. the OOP frequency and about 5% of difference regarding the in-
plane frequency.

4.4. Evaluation of the columns axial load effect on the infills OOP
4.3. Evolution of the frequencies along the time after construction frequency

The modal identification was performed after the construction The second set of ambient vibration laboratory tests were car-
of the infill panel in five different stages: i) during the day that ried out in order to evaluate the influence of the application of axial
the wall was built (Day 0); ii) 1 day after construction; iii) 4 and load on the surrounding RC frame columns in the OOP frequencies
25 days after construction and iv) 42 days after construction with of the panel. For this, different axial load levels were applied:
different axial load levels applied in the RC frame columns and v) 30 kN; 85 kN; 150 kN; 221 kN and 273 kN. Additionally, ambient
after OOP test. The OOP test performed was a cyclic static test, vibration tests were conducted before and after this set of tests
through a uniform OOP load applied along the entire panel with in order to evaluate the possible effect of the application of the
airbags. Further details can be find in [10]. axial load.
In Tables 7 and 8 are presented the main results of the OOP and Table 9 summarize the OOP frequencies results obtained for dif-
in-plane frequencies of the IMW for the different stages, from ferent axial load levels (plotted in Fig. 20). From the results it can
which can be observed an increase of 10 and 1.7 times from the be observed that the frequencies increased about 15% until reach
first day of construction until the 4th day after construction N = 273 kN. Based on the Eq. (1) and taking into account that the
respectively. infill panel mass did not suffer any variations along the tests it
132 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134

75 75
Total samples: 22 Total samples: 22
t=8cm t=8cm
t=22cm t=22cm
60 60 t=15cm

Out-of-plane 1 frequency (Hz)

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

t=15cm
t=11cm t=11cm

45 45

st
30 30

15 15

0 0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 2 3 4 5 6
H/L D (m)
a) b)

75 70
Total samples: 22 t=8cm (No openings)
t=8cm t=11cm (No openings)
t=22cm 60 t=11cm (With openings)
60 t=15cm (No openings)

Out-of-plane 1st frequency (Hz)

Out-of-plane 1 frequency (Hz)

t=15cm
t=15cm (With openings)
t=11cm 50 t=22cm (No openings)

45
40
st

30
30

20
15
10

0 0
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 10 15 20 25

µ Panel thickness (cm)

c) d)
Fig. 16. Global results: a) OOP frequency vs ratio H/L; b) OOP frequency vs D and c) OOP frequency vs l; and d) OOP frequency vs panel thickness.

Fig. 17. Modal identification test in LESE specimen: a) layout of the test setup and b) general view.

30 35 25
N. Elements: 484 N. Elements: 500 N. Elements: 462
Normal dist. Normal dist. Normal dist.
Observed 30 Observed Observed
25
mean: 4.421m mean: 0.285m 20 mean: 0.429 m
Percentage of elements (%)

Percentage of elements (%)

Percentage of elements (%)

CoV(%): 22.1 CoV(%): 22.6 CoV(%): 20.7

Chi-square: 1% satisfied 25 Chi-square: 5% satisfied Chi-square: 5% satisfied
20
15
20
15
15
10
10
10

5
5
5

0 0 0
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Beams length (m) Beams width (m) Beams heigth (m)

a) b) c)
Fig. 18. Geometric characterization of the Portugal building stock: a) RC beams length; b) RC beams width; and c) RC beams height.
 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134 133

Table 7 Table 9
OOP frequencies evolution for different periods after construction of the panel. OOP frequencies evolution for different axial load levels.

Stage t (days) N [kN] f [Hz] COVa SDb Stage t (days) N [kN] f [Hz] COVa SDb
i 0 0 2,93 0,0047 0,0137 iv 42 0 19,28 0,0396 0,7631
ii 1 0 11,05 0,0266 0,2934 30 20,01 0.0033 0,0658
iii 4 0 20,42 0,0037 0,0750 85 21,34 0,0106 0,2257
25 0 20,77 0,0028 0,0578 150 22,35 0,0033 0,0727
iv 42 0 19,28 0,0396 0,7631 221 22,31 0,0030 0,0661
v 49 0 15,24 0,0080 0,1224 273 22,64 0,0010 0,0228
a
0 20,74 0,0266 0,5521
Coefficient of variation.
b
Standard deviation.

Table 8
In-plane frequencies evolution for different periods after construction of the panel.

Stage t (days) N [kN] f [Hz] COVa SDb

i 0 0 9,28 0,0191 0,1770
ii 1 0 12,72 0,0424 0,5396
iii 4 0 16,63 0,0384 0,6384
25 0 17,41 0,0248 0,4311
v 49 0 15,52 0,0293 0,4629
a
Coefficient of variation.
b
Standard deviation.

Fig. 20. OOP frequencies evolution for different axial load levels.

5. Conclusions

This manuscript reports an experimental study carried out at

Fig. 19. Evolution of the frequencies along the period after construction: a) OOP
and b) in plane.
can be determined the variation of the infill panel OOP stiffness.
Thus, for the maximum level of axial load (N = 273 kN) a stiffness
increase of 38% when compared with the initial level of axial load
(N = 0 kN).
2 ambient vibration tests carried out under laboratory conditions
f ¼ K=m
where, f is the angular frequency, K and m are the stiffness and
mass of the infill panel respectively.
the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering – LESE
at the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto. The main goal
of the present study was to perform a set of in-situ and laboratory
ambient vibration tests in order to capture the IMW in-plane and
OOP frequencies and vibration modes. For this testing campaign,
the influence of different variables was taken into account, namely
geometry, slenderness, openings and boundary conditions. This
type of IMW ambient vibration tests and modal identification are
innovative and will allow to characterize better the OOP character-
istics of the infill panels and to calibrate numerical models.
Throughout the manuscript it was presented the testing methodol-
ogy adopted to obtain the 1st OOP and in-plane frequencies and
vibration modes of the panel.
Regarding the in-situ experimental campaign Twenty-two IMW
of three existing buildings in Portugal were tested. From these
ambient vibration tests, it was observed that the single-leaf IMW
1st OOP frequency ranges from 15 Hz to 36 Hz independently of
the panel thickness. It was only observed OOP frequencies around
60 Hz for double-leaf IMW. Regarding the ratio H/L, it was also
observed that with the increase of the ratio the OOP frequencies
of the panels increases, however with the increase of the diagonal
dimension of the panel the OOP frequencies decreases.
Globally, from these in-situ ambient vibration tests it can be
concluded that the major variable that affect the panels OOP fre-
quencies is the existence of openings that can reduce significantly
the panel OOP frequency. This reduction can be around 20–40%,
dependently of the opening size. However additional number of
tests are necessary to reinforce the results presented along the pre-
sent manuscript.
The second part of the present manuscript was composed by
ð1Þ on a full scale infilled RC frame. The aim was to study: i) the evo-
lution of the IMW in-plane and OOP frequencies along the period
after construction of the panel; and ii) evaluate the influence of
134 A. Furtado et al. / Engineering Structures 145 (2017) 118–134
the axial load in the adjacent columns in the OOP frequencies of
the panel.
It was observed a higher increase of the in-plane and OOP fre-
quencies from the first day to the fourth around 10 and 1.7 times
respectively. After the fourth day no significate variations were
observed in both directions. It was observed major reduction of
the OOP frequency than the in-plane ones due to previous dam-
ages, namely 35% reduction of the OOP frequency. Finally, the axial
load applied on the panel adjacent columns increased the panel
OOP and consequently the panel OOP stiffness around 38%. In order
to complement and reinforce the present study global findings
additional tests should be performed in the future.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the technicians of the
Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering (LESE), Mr.
Valdemar Luis and Mr. Nuno Pinto for their support in the experi-
mental activity reported in this paper. This experimental research
was developed under the financial support ‘‘ FCT – Fundação para a
Ciência e Tecnologia”, Portugal, through the research project ‘‘P0CI-
01-0145-FEDER-016898 – ASPASSI – Avaliação da Segurança e
reforço de Paredes de Alvenaria de enchimento para solicitações
Sísmicas”.
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