1g model tests on buildings founded on sand-rubber tire shreds mixture

The alarming rate at which the scrap rubber tires are generated, its uncontrolled disposal in the environment causing severe pollution are some of the major issues to be addressed. The disaster inflicted by the earthquakes on the low-rise buildings and the unavailability of an affordable low-cost isolation system demand immediate engineering attention. The past laboratory investigations show the potential for use of sand-rubber tire shred mixtures in various geotechnical applications. However, there is a lack of studies particularly on the use of these mixtures for the seismic isolation of buildings. In the present study 1-g laboratory model studies are carried out on the scaled typical low-rise buildings (consisting up to Ground+2 floor levels). Different base conditions such as fixed base and the one resting on sand-rubber tire shred mixture layer in a circular tank of 1.5m diameter and 0.85m height filled with sand are considered. A series of impact hammer tests were conducted on these scaled physical models instrumented with PCB Piezotronics make accelerometers. An HBM make digital carrier frequency amplifier with the data acquisition system is used to measure the impact force and the time histories of accelerations of the structure. The measured peak horizontal accelerations at the different levels of the structure show that the sand-rubber tire shred mixture possesses the adequate potential for their application as seismic isolation materials for low-rise buildings.