Operational Modal Analysis, Testing and Modelling of Prefabricated Steel Modules with Different LSF Composite Walls

The modal properties of modular structures, such as their natural frequencies, damping ratios and mode shapes, are different than those of conventional structures, mainly due to different structural systems being used for assembling prefabricated modular units onsite. To study the dynamic characteristics of modular systems and define a dynamic model, both the modal properties of the individual units and their connections need to be considered. This study is focused on the former aspect. A full-scale prefabricated volumetric steel module was experimentally tested using operational modal analysis technique under pure ambient vibrations and randomly generated artificial hammer impacts. It was tested in different situations: [a] bare (frame only) condition, and [b] infilled condition with different configurations of gypsum and cement-boards light-steel framed composite walls. The coupled module-wall system was instrumented with sensitive accelerometers, and its pure and free vibration responses were synchronously recorded through a data acquisition system. The main dynamic characteristics of the module were extracted using output-only algorithms, and the effects of the presence of infill wall panels and their material are discussed. Then, the module's numerical micromodel for bare and infilled states is generated and calibrated against experimental results. Finally, an equivalent linear strut macro-model is proposed based on the calibrated data. The contribution of this study is assessing the effects of different infill wall materials on the dynamic characteristics of modular steel units, and proposing simple models for macro-analysis of infilled module assemblies.