HYDRAFORM EARTHQUAKE -RESISTANT SYSTEM
A large part of the world falls under the seismic zone or earthquake-prone areas. Every year lakhs of buildings are destroyed due to the disaster caused by earthquake all over the world. Hydraform continuously works with an aim to improve the structural performance of its interlocking masonry to widen its application area in over climatic and geological conditions to face the natural disaster. Hydraform runs and performs a series of tests and validation to enhance its performance as an earthquake-resistant system, with the purpose to reduce the loss of life and prevent the collapsing of the buildings.
WITS UNIVERSITY AND HYDRAFORM
In collaboration with University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Hydraform has performed extensive seismic testing on seven structures and has developed in a final set of fully simulated earthquake signals (chosen from well-known historical major earthquakes: EI Centro, Northridge and Llolleo) applied to the seventh structure. And after the structures had been subjected to four such signals, ran in sequence, negligible damage was noticeable.
HYDRAFORM ACHIEVEMENTS IN INDIA AND ARGENTINA
According to the geographical statistics of India, almost 55% of the lands are prone to earthquake. The region of Kashmir, the Western and Central Himalayan range, the Rann of Kutch, North and Middle Bihar and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands fall in the seismic zone where Hydraform earthquake – resistant building system has been successful in the earthquake- stricken regions. A slightly modified Hydraform blocks allowed horizontal reinforcement at intermittent levels and vertical reinforcement at corners in case of load bearing structures or use in reinforced concrete frame.
In Argentina, the Central and Western part is a zone of high seismic hazard. And there the conventional Hydraform blocks were used in a reinforced concrete frame which tied the walls, foundation and roof together of the construction providing seismic resistance.
HYDRAFORM EARTHQUAKE -RESISTANT SYSTEM
Earthquake simulations were conducted on a full scale, dry stacked and masonry structure made out of Hydraform bricks (Figure 1).
And in the course of evaluation three earthquakes were considered: the elCentro, the North Ridge and the Llolleo. The acceleration time histories from these three earthquakes were integrated, to produce displacement time histories, and then high pass filtered.
The filtering proved to be essential for two reasons:
- To remove drift in the displacements,
- To facilitate the testing with the equipment available.
Thus after regression and analysis, Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) and others, have also recommended Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) & Compressed Earth Interlocking Blocks (CEIB) as appropriate for use in Earth Quake Resistant Structures and has issued comprehensive guidelines in this respect.
For details, please refer to relevant GSDMA guidelines. And to address specific application, Hydarform India a modified interlocking Block can be contacted which suits the vertical + horizontal reinforcement requirements in Earth Quake Resistant Housing Structures in Gujarat.