Seismic Behavior of Masonry Building with Spread Base Isolation Using Natural Rubber

Masonry is the most widely used material due to its availability and ease of construction in various rural parts of the world. The brittle nature of the masonry makes the buildings more vulnerable during an earthquake. Existing base-isolation techniques require specialized manufacturing processes, skilled labor, and uneconomical for masonry buildings. This study focuses on a novel isolation technique with locally available low-cost rubber as a cost-effective emerging solution for masonry buildings to overcome these challenges. A numerical study conducted on an experimentally validated one-story masonry building subjected to ground motion and responses are compared between fixed-base and spread rubber isolated-base buildings. The wall-Top displacement, wall-Top acceleration, and failure stress indicated a significant improvement in seismic performance of rubber isolated masonry building. The proposed spread base-isolation technique using locally available natural rubber can be a socio-economic solution for seismic protection of masonry buildings in developing countries' rural seismic regions.