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Seismic performance of the infill masonry walls and ambient vibration tests after the Ghorka 2015, Nepal earthquake

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Abstract

Recent earthquakes have demonstrated a significant contribution of the masonry infill walls in the structural response of the reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Field observations after the 25th April’s earthquake in Nepal reinforce the conclusion regarding the influence of the infill walls increasing significantly the structural stiffness, which has a direct impact on the natural frequencies of the structure and of structural elements. Firstly the manuscript focuses on the performance of the infilled RC structures, describing common Nepalese architectural configurations and the major damages observed in infilled RC buildings. Secondly, it shows results from data collected on ambient vibration tests performed in seven infill panels with different characteristics, such as geometric dimensions, openings and levels of damage. These results are used to study the influence of each parameter in the out-of-plane frequency of the wall panels. The present studies along the manuscript are followed by a presentation of the study cases (buildings and the walls), test setups, main results and conclusions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like acknowledge to the Laboratory of Earthquake and Structural Engineering (LESE) Valdemar Luis and Nuno Pinto for all the support in the preparation of the equipment’s. The authors would like the collaboration of others researchers including André Barbosa, Andreas Stravridis, Daniel Gillins, Patrick Burns, Matt Gillins, Michael Olsen, Giuseppe Brando, Davide Rapone, Enrico Spacone, Rajendra Soti, Marco Faggela, Rosario Gigliotti, Dipendra Gautam and to the Nacional Society of Earthquake Technology (NSET) in Nepal, in the reconnaissance trip and in the collection of the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CONSTRUCT-LESE, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Humberto Varum, André Furtado, João Dias-Oliveira, Nelson Vila-Pouca & António Arêde

  2. RISCO, School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

    Hugo Rodrigues

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  1. Humberto Varum
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  2. André Furtado
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  3. Hugo Rodrigues
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  4. João Dias-Oliveira
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  5. Nelson Vila-Pouca
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  6. António Arêde
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hugo Rodrigues.

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Varum, H., Furtado, A., Rodrigues, H. et al. Seismic performance of the infill masonry walls and ambient vibration tests after the Ghorka 2015, Nepal earthquake. Bull Earthquake Eng 15, 1185–1212 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-016-9999-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10518-016-9999-z

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