Work

Experimental Assessment of Vertical Greenery Systems Using Shake Table Tests and High-Precision Terrestrial LiDAR

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The integration of vertical greenery systems (VGSs) into existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings raises questions regarding interface kinematics and the permanent displacement of soil-retaining elements under seismic excitation. This study experimentally investigates the residual displacement of façade-mounted living walls and rooftop planter pods anchored to a deficient RC frame under shake table excitation. A 1:3 scale reinforced concrete frame was tested in two distinct phases: initially as a deficient, unretrofitted structure (Phase A), and subsequently as a retrofitted system integrated with vertical greenery elements (Phase B). High-precision terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was employed before and after successive seismic excitation stages to generate dense three-dimensional point clouds. Cloud-to-cloud comparison techniques were used to quantify global structural displacement and local kinematic behavior of greenery components, while results were validated against conventional displacement sensors. The RC frame exhibited millimeter-scale permanent displacements consistent with draw-wire measurements. In contrast, planter pods demonstrated configuration-dependent behavior, including up to 8 cm translational sliding and rotational responses reaching 13° under repeated excitation, whereas living wall panels remained stable. Notably, a 95% reduction in point cloud density reproduced global deformation patterns with an RMSE of 3.03 mm and quantified peak displacements with only ~2% deviation from full-resolution results. The findings demonstrate the capability of TLS-based monitoring to detect differential kinematic behavior of integrated VGSs, while highlighting the variability in performance of friction-based rooftop anchorage utilizing different robust planter pod fixing systems.

Source: Geotechnics

DOI: 10.3390/geotechnics6020033

Authors: Vachan Vanian, Pavlos Asteriou, Theodoros Rousakis, Ioannis P. Xynopoulos, Constantin E. Chalioris

Institution: Democritus University of Thrace

Language: English

Topic: Seismic Performance and Analysis

Subfield: Civil and Structural Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,207