Abstract
Hakka Tulou are rammed earth buildings that have survived material aging, natural weathering and earthquakes for hundreds of years. Previous paper has reported our observations and findings from nondestructive evaluations in field with focus on the integrity of the rammed earth outer walls and inner timber structures as well as the thermal comfort of living in these buildings. This paper presents the structural response of Tulou buildings under earthquake loads using material data from field and employing finite element (FE) analysis program. The material characterization included scanning electron microscopy and compression strength/modulus of rammed earth samples and wall reinforcements, revealing their high strength and durability. The FE analyses were conducted on unreinforced Huanji Tulou as per the simplified lateral force analysis procedure defined by the Code ASCE-7 under three types of wall conditions: 1) unreinforced rammed earth outer wall only, 2) reinforced rammed earth outer wall without inner wooden structures, and 3) unreinforced rammed earth outer wall with inner wooden structures. The FE modeling revealed that the existing large crack in the outer earth wall of Huanji Tulou would not have developed under a strong earthquake load if the earth walls were reinforced. Furthermore, the high volume rammed earth wall integrated with inner timber structures would have offered the building unique earthquake resistance.
Highlights
Hurricane Katrina (United States) in 2005 and Great Sichuan Earthquake (China) in 2008 have led the engineering community to explore more disaster-resistant residential, commercial and other vital public structures
The finite element (FE) analyses were conducted on unreinforced Huanji Tulou as per the simplified lateral force analysis procedure defined by the Code ASCE-7 under three types of wall conditions: 1) unreinforced rammed earth outer wall only, 2) reinforced rammed earth outer wall without inner wooden structures, and 3) unreinforced rammed earth outer wall with inner wooden structures
The results demonstrate that the rammed earth walls of Hakka Tulou are strong and durable, even though each wall varies in composition from others
Summary
Hurricane Katrina (United States) in 2005 and Great Sichuan Earthquake (China) in 2008 have led the engineering community to explore more disaster-resistant residential, commercial and other vital public structures. Each building has thick (~2m) outer rammed earth walls and inner timber structures that make up floors and partition rooms. They are three to five stories in height and round or square in shape; some of these buildings have several hundred rooms capable of housing a large number of families. The above mentioned FE work was carried out using the strength and modulus data of the constituent materials of the rammed earth wall including rammed earth, wooden and bamboo reinforcement These data were obtained from the material characterization of the field-collected samples from five different Tulou buildings. Rammed earth samples and timber samples were collected and used for laboratory testing including carbon dating for building age
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