Page 484 - Advanced Design Examples of Seismic Retrofit of Structures

Examples of Nonengineered Buildings Chapter 6 427

(A) (B)

(C) (D)
FIG. 6.24 Examples of cluster arched roof adobe buildings in arid areas. (A) Yazd province.
(B) Kerman province. (C) Khorasan province. (D) Kerman province. (Photos taken by Mohammad
Yekrangnia.)

and the soil condition, and it is not considered serious, unless in regions having
very loose soils such as organic soils. Adobe buildings in Iran usually constitute
1–20units in each building (Fig. 6.24). Since these buildings are found in arid
and semi-arid areas in the middle of deserts, cluster houses which are concen-
trated around a main yard are common [33].
The wallsofthese buildings are built bysun-dried adobe blockswithmud mor-
tar in the bed joints. In some regions, depending on the available material, goats’
hair, palm leaves, or sand are added to the blocks and/or mortar to enhance their
mechanical properties. The thick adobe walls which range from 0.6 to 1.8m
(shown in Fig. 6.25) ensure good insulation against the hot days and cold nights
commoninthoseregions.Theaveragewallsdensityinthesebuildingsis6%–14%.
Generally speaking, the roof system of Iranian adobe buildings can be either
wooden or arched. In mountainous regions and also those regions having access
to wood, flat roofs are quite common. In this type of roof, wooden beams are used
to carry the load of the roof, and then mud and branches of trees are used to cover
the roof. These roofs are 20–40cm in thickness and have mass per unit area from
2
300 to 600kg/m . The clear story height in these buildings is 2.7–3.0m. The typ-
ical span of wooden flat roof is 2.5–4.0m. An example of a wooden roof in Iranian
adobe buildings together with the details is shown in Fig. 6.26.