Fundamental periods of vibration of RC buildings in Portugal from in-situ experimental and numerical techniques

Since the early nineteen seventies we have been measuring the in-situ dynamic characteristics of the different structures built in Portugal, essentially based on ambient vibration and using expedite techniques. A data-base containing not only the fundamental dynamic characteristics of those structures but also their most important geometric and constructive properties has been created with the aim of setting correlations between construction typologies and fundamental periods or frequencies, and damping characteristics, and calibrate numerical modelling of those structures. This paper presents the main results for circa 197 reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, obtaining the fundamental period as a linear function of height or number of storeys for different typologies and situations, and showing that numerical models, made for a number of illustrative cases, can reproduce with great accuracy the in-situ measurements. The main parameters having remarkable influence on the overall correlation laws are identified and a measure of uncertainty deduced. Comparisons with published formulae for other regions of the world show that we can group these laws by regions with similar expression within each group but with large variations from group to group. Discussion on how to deal with the elongation of the periods of vibration due to moderate and large amplitude motion, causing changes in the seismic behaviour and on appearance of damage, will also be briefly introduced, keeping in mind current code practices.