Suitability of Composite Material in Tsunami Resistant Design

Research work on the selection of appropriate construction materials for tsunami resistant structures is still in inception. An attempt is made to assess the suitability of composite materials reinforced with coconut, glass and sansevieria cylindrica fibres. A building model is fabricated based on coconut fibre composites, which is performed better among the three fibre composites is tested in a tsunami wave basin. Force sensors are placed on plinth level and floor level of the building to evaluate the impact force of the waves. Building performance is studied under normal and diagonal orientation, and the later seems to perform better. Numerical analysis of impact stress distribution on coconut fibre composites based building model is carried out in ABACUS (FEA) software and it is compared with normal conventional building model. The study reveals that coconut fiber based composites can withstand high impacts, offer large flexural strength and has less moisture absorption when exposed to coastal environment.