Video: Seismic test on masonry walls

Displacement-based seismic assessments of unreinforced masonry buildings are afflicted with the large coefficient of variation of the displacement capacity of unreinforced masonry walls. The PhD project by Sarah Petry aims at predicting the displacement capacity more precisely by connecting local with global deformation measurements. The test setup developed in the structural engineering’s laboratory at EPFL comprises three actuators with a force capacity of 100t each. The horizontal actuator simulates the seismic loading. The two vertical actuators simulate the vertical load acting on the wall as well as the moment introduced by slabs and beams framing into the wall. The three actuators are fully coupled and allow controling the height of zero moment very precisely – a novum since previously only cantilever or double-fixed boundary conditions have been tested. The optical measurement system measures the position of more than 300 LEDs on the masonry wall and allows computing any local and global deformations of the wall.

To see and hear the wall fail: Scroll to 2:30 min!

This test was performed by PhD student Sarah Petry and Prof. Katrin Beyer. The video was made by Edgar Bastian.