Dynamic Characteristics of Rural Adobe Houses in Iran Using Ambient Vibration Measurements

Abstract eng:
In Iran most of the rural houses are made of mud and adobe. Various reasons have caused adobe construction to be the first choice for a long time, among them: low-cost materials, environmental compatibility, good insulation, simple construction methods, and limited financial resources. This type of buildings generally has one or two stories. On the other hand, experiences of past earthquakes indicate that these houses are among the most vulnerable types of building and may not resist even moderate earthquakes because of their high weight and low seismic strength and ductility. Presented in this paper are the results obtained by experimental in situ testing of adobe houses from several earthquake-prone provinces in Iran. Three types of single-story houses are considered for investigation, including adobe walls with wooden flat roofs, adobe walls with arched roofs, and adobe walls with vaulted roofs using three SS-1 seismograghs and SSR-1 DAQ system. The results indicate that fundamental frequency and damping ratio of these adobe houses are at the range of 4.8 to 16.2 Hz and 1.5 to 3.5 per cent, respectively. Furthermore, dynamic characteristics of the tested houses have been used to calibrate numerical FEM models for low amplitude excitation at the range of elastic behavior.

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