Shake table testing and dynamic response of u-shaped adobemudbrick wall units

Traditional, unreinforced adobe-mudbrick houses are highly susceptible to damage and destruction during seismic events. This paper presents two reinforcement systems for adobe-mudbrick structures: one with vertical reinforcement within the walls; the other with vertical reinforcement attached to the outside of the walls. Scale model (1:2) u-shaped wall panels were subjected to transient dynamic loading using a shake table to evaluate the response to outof- plane seismic forces. Time-scaled input spectra were used to ensure dynamic similitude and induce damaging near-resonance conditions. The testing and analysis revealed both systems to be effective at impeding initial cracking, as well as delaying major structural damage and ultimate collapse. The system incorporating external vertical reinforcement performed better, and has the clear advantage of being simpler to construct, as well as being a viable option for the retrofit-strengthening of existing dwellings.