October 2022
Dr. P Pravin K V Rao has been selected for ISET D K Paul Research Award for best Ph.D thesis in Earthquake Risk Reduction in India for the year 2022. The award is given once in 4 years to only one person with an international reputation and excellent standing in the area of expertise. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 60,000 and a citation.
Dr. Rao’s Ph.D thesis was on Out-of-Plane Seismic Behaviour and Strengthening of Unreinforced Masonry Walls. He did this Ph.D under the supervision of Prof. Yogendra Singh, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee and Prof. Sreekanta Das, University of Windsor, Canada. Here is the summary of his thesis:
According to ‘Building Census 2001 and 2011’, almost 85% of the existing building stock in ‘India’ is made of masonry. From the post-earthquake surveys, it is observed that the most recurrent damage in existing old unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings is the out-of-plane collapse of masonry walls due to low tensile strength. The main objective of this study was to enhance the flexural tensile strength of URM using different strengthening techniques. To achieve this objective, URM specimens with and without strengthening have been tested subject to one-way and two-way out-of-plane loading. Experimental results have been analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed strengthening techniques, viz. Welded Wire Mesh (WWM), Basalt Fibre Mesh (BFM), and Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer (BFRP).
The test results showed that these techniques performed better in terms of strength (up to 16 times compared to URM), deformation (up to 24 times compared to URM), and energy absorption capacity (up to 248 times compared to URM) Further, the test specimens have been simulated using analytical modelling (sectional analysis and crack-line method) to further understand the performance of strengthening techniques.