Seismic Performance Evaluation of Rocking Plasterboard Partition Walls Via Full-Scale Shake Table Tests

This paper presents the seismic performance of rocking plasterboard partition walls installed on the first storey of a full-scale, three-storey steel-frame building subjected to unidirectional and bidirectional horizontal ground motions. Three configurations (planar, L-shaped, and T-shaped) of rocking partition walls with dual-slot tracks were tested to assess their response under various seismic inputs. Peak rocking displacements were measured and compared with theoretical predictions. The observed damage was classified into different damage states, which were correlated with inter-storey drift demands and non-structural performance levels defined in ASCE/SEI 41-23 (2023). The planar walls accommodated peak in-plane inter-storey drift ratios of up to 1.50% without any visible damage. In contrast, the L-shaped and T-shaped walls accommodated peak in-plane inter-storey drift ratios of up to 2.12%, sustaining moderate but easily repairable damage. The partition walls experienced out-of-plane acceleration demands higher than the corresponding peak floor accelerations, with median amplification factors ranging from 1.5 to 3.5. Additionally, dynamic characteristics of the wall system, including natural frequency and damping ratio, were derived from the experimental results. The out-of-plane natural frequencies were found to range from 9.51 Hz to 7.79 Hz for the T-shaped walls and from 13.18 Hz to 11.90 Hz for the planar walls. Both wall configurations exhibited similar damping ratios, with values falling within the 1–6% range.