Modal identification of infill masonry walls with different characteristics

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 corresponding vibration modes. For this, two different campaigns were carried out: i) in-situ tests were carried 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) laboratory 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 corresponding vibration modes. From the results, it was observed that the openings reduced the OOP frequencies around 20-40%, the axial load increment in the adjacent columns increased the OOP stiffness and consequently the natural frequencies of the panel.