Shaking table tests on strengthened adobe dwellings typical of Mexico

Abstract

This paper investigates experimentally the effectiveness of a cost-effective strengthening technique using steel meshes at improving the seismic behaviour of adobe dwellings typical of developing countries. To achieve this, two 1 : 2 scaled-down adobe dwellings were tested on a shaking table using increasing levels of shaking intensity. The first model was tested in an as-built condition, whereas the second one was strengthened with a hexagonal chicken-wire mesh rendered with cement mortar. The main parameters investigated include the vibration period, accelerations, displacements, damping, stiffness and base shear. The results show that, compared to the as-built model, the reinforced model sustained twice the accelerations and experienced 10 times less drift, while only increasing by approximately 20% the material and labour costs. It is also shown that the proposed strengthening strategy was very effective at reducing structural damage in adobe dwellings. This study contributes towards a better understanding of the seismic response of adobe structures, as well as towards developing cost-effective strengthening techniques for structures in developing countries.