Prefabricated mud wall units based on a traditional Japanese building system: Lateral in-plane performance in terms of connection, and crack development using digital speckle photography

A shear wall composed by prefabricated mud wall units (PMWU) was studied. Mud panels reinforced by bamboo laths are enclosed in wooden frame, combining mud material’s high energy absorption and stiffness of wooden frame. Among the advantages are workability and quality control before and after assembly. The PMWU’s performance related to the number of frames’ connectors was analyzed. Digital speckle photography (DSP) was used to measure strains and finite element method (FEM) to validate the results. The shear stiffness of PMWU varied due to rotation of the panels. The stress transmission was influenced by the number of connectors via shear and contact between frames.