An experimental and numerical study on seismic strength improvement in rammed earth houses

Abstract

Earthen houses are practiced as a traditional and low-cost housing in many countries newlinearound the globe. These houses were exposed to unacceptable earthquake (EQ) risks newlinedespite their environmental benefits. Past earthquakes including the recent past 2017 newlineTripura EQ has evidenced significant damages mostly in earthen/masonry houses which newlineare built in a non-engineered manner. The seismic behaviour of rammed earthen houses is newlineinsufficiently explored, highlighting the critical need for further investigations to bridge newlinethis knowledge gap. In this context, present thesis attempts to investigate the mechanical newlinestrength characteristics, dynamic characteristics, seismic performance and failure patterns newlineof both unreinforced and retrofitted rammed earthen models. Static as well as dynamic newlineexperimental study is performed on scaled down physical models. newline