Vibration-based post-Earthquake Rapid Damage Identification in historic masonry towers (ERIES-VERDI)

The ERIES-VERDI (Vibration-based post-Earthquake Rapid Damage Identification in historic masonry towers) project aims to assess the effectiveness and scalability of innovative vibration-based SHM methods for damage localization and quantification in earthquake-excited masonry constructions. The project proposed a dynamic investigation of the behaviour of masonry towers embedded within building aggregate, using shake table testing to validate SHM methods on a stone masonry tower subjected to different seismic inputs.

The dataset contains the results of the experimental campaign carried out at the LNEC facilities, in Lisbon. The masonry tower was built with calcareous stone and lime mortar, with boundary conditions reproducing the surrounding aggregates, at a 1:7 scale, featuring a total height of about 6.30 m, a square cross section of 1.0 x 1.0 m2, 0.2 m thick walls and small openings. The material was characterized by vertical compression tests on masonry wallets, three-point bending and compression tests on mortar specimens, and compression tests on stone specimens, all available at the dataset.

The tests on the scaled tower were carried out in two different configurations. In the first configuration, ambient vibration tests (AVT) were performed while it was standing on the floor of the testing hall. In the second configuration, shake table (ST) tests were performed where it underwent dynamic identification through ambient and forced vibration tests, followed by seismic tests with different input motions. The dataset includes recordings from a dense monitoring system collected during all shaking tests, as well as under white- and pink-noise excitations at different damage levels. It also provides detailed information on the damage state at each intensity level, enabling the development and validation of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) algorithms for earthquake-induced damage.