PSI - Issue 44

O. Coppola et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 44 (2023) 758–765 Coppola et al./ XIX Convegno ANIDIS & XVII ASSISi Conference http://convegno.anidis.it/index.php/anidis/2022/index 7

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• during the second test, i.e. up to displacements of ±31.5 mm, therefore for inter-story drift ratios equal to 0.8% of the height of the specimen, no damage can be found. Also in this case, at the end of the test the alignment of the cladding panels is not changed. When the “new” crescendo test was carried out, the following damages were observed: • the first damage consisted in the fall down of a small portion of a tile in correspondence of the corner (Fig. 7a), i.e. where it is connected by the hook to the stud. It occurred for ±35 mm applied displacement, corresponding to 1.10% inter-story drift; • for an applied displacement of ±40 mm (inter-story drift = 1.25%) the detachment of the same portion of another tile is observed; • at ±47 mm applied displacement (drift = 1.47%) a further detachment of a portion of the tile is observed, always at the connection with the stud. All the fallen portions of the panel were located on the same vertical, i.e. in correspondence with their connections to the same external stud (on the right of the façade specimen). • for a maximum applied displacements of ±53 mm (1.65%) and beyond, a strong out-of-plane rotation of the above mentioned vertical stud was observed. The test was performed up to the maximum displacement provided by the proposed loading protocol, i.e. ±150 mm. Inspecting the back of the specimen at the end of the test, it was observed the failure of the brackets connecting the left and central studs with the sub-structure (Fig. 7b). These two studs did not rotate during the test. The rotation of the right side stud was due, on the other hand, to the bolts coming out of the brackets (Fig. 7c). These brackets resulted not damaged. a b c

Fig. 7. Damages of the specimen observed during the “new” crescendo test: (a) detachment of a small portion of a tile in the corner, (b) yielding of the brackets connecting the left and central studs to the substructure and (c) bolts coming out of the brackets connecting the right side stud to the substructure 4. Conclusions The present work deals with the seismic assessment of a specimen representing a portion of a ventilated façade. In particular, the paper focuses on the description of the test setup and equipment used to carry out static and dynamic tests in the plane of the component and in the presentation of a new test method for dynamic crescendo test. The experimental results show the applicability of the proposed loading protocol and the possibility to include it in a more comprehensive technical specification about the seismic assessment of ventilated façade. Acknowledgements The contribution of Nexion International Pvt. Ltd. in providing the façade specimen is gratefully acknowledged.