Experimental dataset on the free and forced rocking response of masonry vertical spanning strip walls

This dataset presents an extensive experimental investigation on the dynamic rocking behaviour of vertical spanning strip walls. The data were obtained from a shaking-table campaign conducted on six configurations of dry-stacked granite masonry walls, defined by two height-to-width ratios and three overburden conditions. The experimental programme comprises more than 350 tests, including both free-vibration and forced-vibration experiments. Eighteen free-vibration tests provide measurements for the identification of experimental hinge heights, period-amplitude relationships, and energy dissipation mechanisms quantified through the coefficient of restitution. The forced-vibration programme includes 150 tests under idealised pulse-type excitations, used to derive an experimental rocking overturning spectrum, and 192 tests under recorded ground motions, employed to characterise the response within a probabilistic framework.

Experimental measurements were acquired using a four-camera Digital Image Correlation (DIC) system, enabling full three-dimensional reconstruction of the motion of each block composing the wall. The dataset includes both the raw data recorded by the DIC system and the processed data obtained through a dedicated post-processing methodology. All experiments were conducted at the Structural Laboratory of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Minho (Guimarães, Portugal), within the framework of the New STANDards for Seismic Assessment of Built Cultural HERITAGE (STAND4HERITAGE) project (https://doi.org/10.3030/833123).