Application of Mangrove Root Structures in Designing Buildings to Prevent Earthquake Damage

Large earthquakes, like the one in Turkey, cause significant building collapses, leading to severe damage. To prevent such destruction, buildings need designs that can effectively mitigate earthquake damage. However, conventional seismic design methods are costly, especially in economically underdeveloped countries. This led to the idea of applying the root structure of mangrove trees, which are highly stable and can withstand environmental forces such as strong waves and wind. Mangrove trees anchor themselves deep in muddy shores, and their root system is robust, dispersing external forces efficiently. This research was initiated to explore whether such a natural structure could be applied to building design to reduce the impact of earthquakes.

Existing seismic designs reinforce buildings through three structures: seismic resistance, vibration control, and base isolation, which minimize the effects of seismic vibrations and increase stability. However, applying biomimicry technology, such as using mangrove root structures that help prevent natural disasters along coastlines, has not been attempted in seismic design so far. Therefore, through this research, I aimed to explore whether an efficient earthquake damage prevention design method that can be easily used in many impoverished countries is practical and has potential for application.

The hypothesis was that a model reinforced with mangrove root structures for earthquake damage prevention would experience less physical impact by dissipating forces through the column structure compared to other seismic design methods. To test this, I created a ground model and a building model and conducted earthquake experiments. The ground model was designed to be flexible using tissue springs, allowing it to simulate seismic conditions in both horizontal and vertical directions. The building model combined seismic resistance, vibration control, and mangrove root structure methods, and earthquake experiments were conducted on eight different building models.

3. Key Findings

The eight building models were placed on the ground model, and seismic forces were applied in both horizontal and vertical directions to test the degree of earthquake damage prevention. The results were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the mangrove root structure design.

When seismic resistance and vibration control designs were combined with the mangrove root structure, they were the most effective in preventing earthquake damage. Additionally, when the mangrove root structure design was applied alone, it was the second most effective among all experimental conditions. Even when seismic resistance or vibration control designs were each applied with the mangrove root structure, the results showed strong performance, ranking third and fourth in effectiveness. Therefore, it is concluded that applying the mangrove root structure to building designs can effectively prevent building collapse or damage caused by earthquakes.