EFFECT OF CONSTRUCTION DETAILS ON THE IN-PLANE SEISMIC RESPONSE OF DRYWALL FAÇADES

In the last years, after many seismic event, a great attention focused on seismic behaviour of architectural non-structural components in a building. In particular, for lightweight steel (LWS) constructions, drywall façade is one of the most widely used architectural nonstructural components. In this perspective the Department of Structures for Engineering and Architecture of University of Naples “Federico II” started a collaboration with Knauf Group to investigate the effect of various construction details on the seismic response of facades. To this aim in-plane quasi-static reserved cyclic tests were carried out on 14 different full-scale façades made with LWS framing. The investigated parameters include single or double frame walls, type of sheathing panels, presence of finishing, variation in surrounding constructional elements, absence of track members, type of connection to the surrounding constructional elements, and presence of protrusion. The paper reports the effect of the construction parameters on the lateral response of the façades examined in terms of strength, stiffness, force-displacement hysteretic response, and damage mechanisms. Therefore, the damage phenomena observed during the tests were employed for the definition of seismic vulnerability, and the fragility curves for different façade typologies. In the end, based on the fragility data, the evaluation of seismic performance according to interstory drift limits for non-structural components given by Eurocode 8 is also presented.