EPICentre at 2018 EEFIT Research Grant Project Showcase

The 2015 seismic sequence in Nepal destroyed about half a million of residential houses. Such a widespread damage sustained by the residential houses was mainly due to the poor performance of the traditional stone masonry buildings which are most common in the rural mountainous districts. The post-earthquake reconstruction is currently ongoing in the country and about 60% of the affected households have completed the reconstruction of their new house.

In light of the 2015 seismic event, Mr Rohit Kumar Adhikari, a PhD candidate at UCL's EPICentre and Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering conducted a research work related to the seismic performance and post-earthquake reconstruction of stone masonry houses in Nepal, as part of a research project which was one of the three winners of the ‘2018 EEFIT Research Grants’ by the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK.

In December 2018, Rohit conducted a field survey in Sindhupalchowk district, one of the severely hit districts, to collect data and information on the damage due to the 2015 seismic sequence as well as on the post-earthquake reconstruction of stone masonry houses. An extensive numerical study on both pre-earthquake and post-earthquake stone masonry in mud mortar typology using advanced modelling technique was carried out to conduct non-linear seismic analysis and seismic performance assessment. The outcomes of the research work are useful in order to better understand the construction characteristics, seismic capacity and vulnerability of Nepalese stone in mud mortar masonry houses, thereby informing the seismic risk reduction plans in the country. The research work was supervised by Prof Dina D’Ayala at CEGE-UCL.

On 22 October 2019, Rohit communicated the findings of the research work in an evening lecture entitled ‘2015 Nepal earthquake: seismic performance and post-earthquake reconstruction of stone masonry building’ at the ‘EEFIT research grant project showcase’ event organized by the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK. The lecture was attended by a large and diverse audience and was well appreciated with several interesting discussions following the presentation.

A comprehensive EEFIT report on the findings from the research work can be downloaded from the Institution of Structural Engineers’ website.

Links

• EEFIT report
• 2015 Nepal earthquake project resources
• EPICentre
• Improving the Disaster Resilience of School Infrastructure
• EPICentre Courses
• EPICentre 360 Library
• MSc Earthquake Engineering with Disaster Management
• UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering