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Abstract
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The present paper focuses on the acquisition of the seismic responses of the masonry structures for evaluating the
variations of the predominant frequency, damping ratio, and vulnerability index during their construction
process. For this purpose, the seismic responses of three confined masonry structures against the ambient vibrations
were acquired during their construction process in three sequential stages: (I) once their bearing walls in
connection with the confined structural members and ceiling diaphragms were constructed; (II) once their
partition walls in conjunction with plaster and mechanical equipment were performed; (III) once their facade and
parapet elements in interaction with flooring and whitewashing were accomplished. Subsequently, the measured
signals in accordance with the seismic responses of the masonry structures were processed through floor spectral
ratio (FSR) and random decrement method (RDM) to exploit their predominant frequency, damping ratio, and
vulnerability index in each individual stage. The measured seismic responses of three confined masonry structures
demonstrated that the variations of the modal properties have substantially amplified throughout the
construction process. Recursively, the vulnerability index has remarkably attenuated over entire stages. Ergo, it
can be evolved that all aforementioned intrinsic characteristics of the studied masonry structures have significantly
augmented during the construction process.
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