Axial and Lateral Load performance of reinforced earth-filled wall-panels - an experimental investigation

Abstract

This paper investigates the behaviour of earth-filled wall panels confined with Galvanised Iron (GI) wire mesh against axial and out-of-plane lateral load.The experimental program includes testing the reduced scale model to examine the earth-filled wall panels confined with GI wire mesh. This experimental research was conducted to study economical and readily available materials for low-cost housing structures and, subsequently, a construction technique. These panels were tested separately for axial load and out-of-plane lateral loads. Many civilizations used earth as a building material in their early days. Many growing nations used Adobe rammed earth and other earth-building techniques because of their self-creation possibilities and affordability. However, the seismic performance of conventional unreinforced earthen homes is very poor, as established in the course of the Bam, Iran 2003, Kashmir, India 2005, and Morocco, 2016 earthquakes. Earthquakes cause great loss of life and property to people in underdeveloped areas with moderate or high seismic activity. Building design is of the many factors influencing the number of fatalities cause during an earthquake. In single story structure, self weight of the structure falling on the occupants is determining factor for the number of fatalities in the event of an earthquake.