In the wake of a damaging earthquake in northern Thailand this past May, Thai Olympic Fiber-Cement Co.,ltd is promoting a quake-resistant system called Shera for customers in vulnerable areas, debuting new lightweight walls with special lightweight concrete, able to withstand impacts better than the area’s standard masonry walls.
After assessing damages related to the natural disaster, Thai Olympic Fiber-Cement noticed that a factor which contributed to many damaged buildings involved masonry; a construction material that cannot withstand serious vibration from earthquakes. The company is now promoting awareness of the fact that masonry is very susceptible to destruction by introducing the Shera Infillwall system as another construction notion.
The new formula for Shera includes lightweight walls, with Shera’s special autoclaved aerated concrete. This will make walls more lightweight and quake resistant than masonry walls, guaranteed by universal standard 1.
Mr. Chaiyapreuk Rattanavivatpong, Sales Director of Thai Olympic Fiber-Cement stated, “Our Shera Infillwall system receives positive feedbacks from construction markets due to its qualifications that meets our customers’ needs, such as light weight, faster installation and more quake resistance.” He continued, “Unlike nearby buildings built from masonry which were severely damaged and have many unfixable cracks, The Jigsaw Condominium in Chiangmai which uses Shera is nearly flawless.”
The Jigsaw Condominium in Chiangmai barely damaged, only a few cracks in coated material at columns’ edge joints and beams.
“Damages left on many houses, hospitals, temples and schools were not built to withstand earthquakes,” Rattanavivatpong said. ”While severe earthquakes had never occurred in Thailand before, there are faults along Thai geography which we should be aware of and prepare for future situations.”
Structural engineering and tremor expert, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amorn Pimanmart, said that the tremor damage prevention methods, including the use of higher quality materials as heavyweight structure would increase impact from earthquakes. On the contrary, buildings with a lightweight structure would receive smaller damage from earthquake because it would have less force. Thus, high-quality lightweight material would considerably minimize damages on buildings.
“The Infillwall system can reduce the total house weight, as well as lessen damages and impacts which can be harmful to residents, he said. “Also the Infillwall system uses steel structure and lightweight cement that help strengthen the walls. It boards and prevents the wall from crumbling down, but masonry walls will be cracked and crumbled, possibly injuring or killing people. So using good quality and lightweight walls will definitely give you better safety.”
In the engineering field, the Infillwall system is one of the profitable inventions and is being commonly used in other countries. Besides, this product helps solve the labour stortage problems since it is easy, fast and only requires a few workers.
