Behavior of Coir- and Bamboo-Reinforced Cob Walls Retrofitted with Bamboo Mesh under Lateral Load

Abstract

Cob is an ancient building material made of a mixture of earth, sand, and straw. Although cob is a sustainable and low-cost material, it has low strength and is prone to cracking. In this study, an experimental study is performed to determine the behavior of cob walls given lateral loads. The lateral load deformation of the cob wall is obtained by adding cement stabilizer and coir fiber and bamboo reinforcement. Further, the cob wall was further retrofitted by using external bamboo mesh reinforcement. Cement stabilizer and coir fiber also improve ultimate lateral load and deformation in comparison with the unstabilized and unreinforced samples. The inclusion of bamboo reinforcement significantly enhances the ductility behavior of the coir wall. The lateral load-carrying capacity of the wall is compromised in the samples with internal bamboo reinforcements. The experimental results show that retrofitted samples exhibit superior load-deformation behavior, improving both lateral load-carrying capacity and maximum deformation at failure, compared to the unretrofitted samples.