Vertical Rods as a Seismic Reinforcement Technique for Rammed Earth Walls: An Assessment

Autor: Q.-B. Bui, T.-T. Bui, R. El-Nabouch, D.-K. Thai
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Advances in Civil Engineering, Vol 2019 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1687-8086
1687-8094
DOI: 10.1155/2019/1285937
Popis: Rammed earth (RE) is a construction material which is manufactured by compacting soil by layers within a formwork to build a monolithic wall. RE material is the subject of numerous scientific researches during the last decade because of the significant heritage of RE buildings and the sustainable properties of this material: low embodied energy, substantial thermal inertia, and natural regulator of moisture. The seismic performance of RE buildings is an interesting topic which needs to be thoroughly investigated. This paper presents a numerical study which assesses the relevancy of a seismic reinforcement technique for RE walls by using two vertical steel rods installed at two extremities of the walls. The discrete element method (DEM) was used to model unreinforced and reinforced RE walls. These walls were first loaded with a vertical stress on the top to simulate the vertical loads and then submitted to a horizontal loading on the top to simulate the seismic action. Two current cases of RE buildings were investigated: one-storey and two-storey buildings. The results showed that the reinforcement technique enhanced the maximum horizontal force about 25% and 10%, respectively, for the cases of one- and two-storey buildings. Higher effectiveness of this reinforcement technique is expected for RE materials having higher compressive strength, for example, stabilized RE.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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