Use of Rubber and Soil Mixture as a Base Isolation Technique for Developing Countries: A Review

Seismic Isolation technique has been in a developing phase for more than a century. For developing countries like Nepal, this technique ought to be viewed on the basis of its significance in terms of reducing Earthquake vibrations, while contiguously taking cost-effectiveness as an indispensable factor. To account for this, Rubber Soil Mixture (RSM) has been proposed as a suitable isolation mechanism. Furthermore, using rubber in this technique helps in significantly reducing the environmental effect caused by stockpiling of waste tire scraps. Addition of rubber on soil to form RSM mixture in the foundation layer shows that the mixture influences geotechnical properties of the soil, thereby, reducing the effect of ground excitation to the superstructure. Moreover, the structural responses in terms of base shear, base moment, inter-story drift, and acceleration gets reduced ensuring safety of the structure.