Shake table tests on retrofitted brick partitions

This paper deals with the seismic characterization of hollow brick internal partitions, which are widespread in many European countries and have high vulnerability to seismic actions, as observed after L’Aquila earthquake in 2009 and Centre Italy earthquake in 2016. In order to reduce thei r vulnerability, a retrofit intervention is proposed: it consists in cutting around the perimeter of the partitions and filling the gap by a self - expanding polyurethane foam. The seismic performance of these retrofitted hollow brick partitions is investiga ted through full - scal e experimental tests, carried out at the laboratory of the Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture at the University of Naples Federico II. Ten bidirectional seismic tests with different intensity are performed. The i nputs are selected matching the target response spectrum provided by the U.S. code for nonstructural components. The exhibited damage is shown and compared to that of the non - retrofitted partition . The damage detection proves the very good performance of t he retrofitted partition. The aim of th is work is to show the efficacy of the retrofit intervention, and to characterize the nons tructural components’ behaviour through the definition of para meters as the natural frequency and the damping ratio.