Author(s)

M.S. Islam, H. Watanabe

Abstract

Low cost earthquake resistant reinforcement for adobe houses M.S. Islam, H. Watanabe Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Saitama University, Japan Abstract Collapse of adobe houses during earthquakes has caused a considerable loss of human lives and properties. The use of advanced technologies and costly methods for earthquake-resistant strengthening of adobe houses is not feasible. Uniaxial compression tests were carried out to study the effect of both the straw content and length of straw on adobe especially in respect of aseismic behaviour. Similar tests were also carried out on gypsum-stabilized adobe. Specimens were prepared by mixing locally available Japanese standard soil and sand, bentonite, gypsum and straw of different ratios by weight, which resembles the similar distribution of old adobe from Iran of the age of 1300 BC. It was observed that both the percentage and length of straw had influence on the compressive strength and elastic modulus of the a

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