NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF A CONTEMPORARY NON-STABILIZED CEB TINY HOUSE

The ongoing climatic changes faced by humanity have led many researchers to search for environmentally friendlier construction materials. Earth-based materials, particularly Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs), have attracted increased interest recently due to their lower embodied energy and carbon footprint, compared to other contemporary building materials, such as fired clay bricks and concrete blocks. Non-stabilized CEBs comprise of soil with a granulometry characterized by low percentages of fines (clay and silt) and sand mixed at low moisture content, and are formed under controlled pressure in compression, without firing and without any form of additives or stabilizers, such as cement or lime, which are usually being added for mechanical or durability enhancement of the end-product. However, the lack of widely accepted standards for the mechanical characterization of CEB masonry systems, as well as of relevant seismic design guidelines, makes this eco-friendly material difficult to compete against other contemporary building materials. This paper briefly presents the experimental investigation of the mechanical performance of an eco-friendly, non-stabilized CEB masonry system, developed using an optimized mix design based on locally sourced materials. Various specimens made of CEBs bonded together with mortar joints originating from the same soil mix were initially fabricated. Compression tests on CEB masonry prisms, four-point bending tests on CEB masonry wallettes with the plane of failure in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the bed joints, shear tests on CEB stack-bonded triplets, and bond wrench tests on CEB stack-bonded couplets were then performed. In all the tests, appropriate instrumentation for measuring the specimens’ response was utilized. The acquired mechanical properties were utilized in the numerical analyses of the seismic performance of a prototype single-storey, load-bearing CEB masonry tiny house. Finite element models were developed, and through static and seismic analyses performed, the structure’s capacity was verified against the requirements of Eurocodes 6 and 8. The results suggest that the proposed CEB masonry system has the potential to be used in the construction of single-storey, load-bearing masonry structures located in seismic prone regions.