Full–Scale Pull–Down Tests on a Two–Storied Rammed Earth Building with Possible Strengthening Interventions

Strengthening Strategies for Existing Rammed Earth Walls Subjected to Out-of-Plane Loading

“…Although strengthening works were carried out for undamaged wall, this method was largely aimed at improving the strength of existing rammed earth walls in an out-of-plane direction. This work is an extension of the authors' previous works [5,[12][13][14]20,24], which largely focused on numerical modelling, reinforced RE with reinforced dowels and wedges, floor anchorage system, and mesh-wrapped strengthening on reduced-scale walls. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the two proposed strengthening techniques, which could be adopted in retrofitting the rammed earth buildings in Bhutan.…”

“…The available literature on rammed earth wall is rich in studies on in-plane loading [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]; however, only a few have discussed out-of-plane behavior [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Further, studies have been carried out exploring strengthening measures to improve the seismic performance of existing rammed earth structures by using flax fiber reinforcement [18], polyester fabric strips [9], cement mortar-steel fiber reinforcement [19], mesh composite [20], and canvas and tarpaulin as externally bonded fibers [3].…”

In-Plane Shear Resistance between the Rammed Earth Blocks with Simple Interventions: Experimentation and Finite Element Study

“…Embedded reinforcements within the rammed earth wall, with post-tensioned vertical rebar [16] and reinforced concrete column [17], are also proposed. Authors [18,19] recently did some work to see the effectiveness of simple intervention techniques with insertion of dowels and wedges between the RE blocks in resisting the out-of-plane collapse of rammed earth walls. The present work is an extension of the previous work [18,19] with element tests done to understand the in-plane shear characteristics of the rammed earth wall and subsequent enhancement in strength with the use of reinforced concrete dowel within the RE block interface.…”

“…Authors [18,19] recently did some work to see the effectiveness of simple intervention techniques with insertion of dowels and wedges between the RE blocks in resisting the out-of-plane collapse of rammed earth walls. The present work is an extension of the previous work [18,19] with element tests done to understand the in-plane shear characteristics of the rammed earth wall and subsequent enhancement in strength with the use of reinforced concrete dowel within the RE block interface. The present work also tries to analyze the effect of RE layer thickness (60-120 mm prevalent to the Bhutanese practice) on the strength characteristics of the RE itself at varying drying periods.…”

Evaluación estructural, técnica y económica del reforzamiento estructural de dos edificaciones patrimoniales en tierra de 1 piso y 2 pisos, usando las recomendaciones del documento AIS- 610-EP-2017 y las prácticas de los arquitectos/ingenieros restauradores

“…Es por esto que el sistema de diafragma con vigas de madera y/o concreto presentan una alternativa de mejora al desempeño global de la estructura (Jerez et al, 2017) , (Shrestha et al, 2020). Así mismo este diafragma debe complementarse con una adecuada conexión con el refuerzo de los muros, mejorando de esta manera el comportamiento de la estructura (Shrestha et al, 2019).…”