SAN BARTOLOMÉ, ANGEL1; QUIUN, DANIEL2; SIANCAS, REYMUNDO3 MANRIQUE, ALAN4

1) Professor, Catholic University of Peru, Department of Engineering, asanbar@pucp.edu.pe [deceased Feb. 2014]

2) Professor, Catholic University of Peru, Department of Engineering, dquiun@pucp.edu.pe

3) Civil Engineer, Catholic University of Peru, Department of Engineering, reymundo.siancas@pucp.pe

4) Civil Engineer, Catholic University of Peru, Department of Engineering, alan.manrique@pucp.pe

In Peru, many parapet walls in medium or tall buildings are built without care of their behavior under out-of-plane seismic forces. Many parapet walls have collapsed in earthquakes in Peru and other countries, which is a dangerous behavior. This paper deals with the experimental out-of-plane seismic tests on four different parapet brick masonry walls, performed at the Structures Laboratory of the Catholic University of Peru, with different bracing conditions.

The clay brick wall parapets were constructed of 1.2 m long, 1m high and 120mm thickness over an RC foundation. Two RC square columns (120 mm side) were later added as lateral braces in three of the specimens, using a toothed connection, simulating the retrofit to an existing parapet wall. The variations were in the reinforcement bars and the anchorage into the bottom beam. The four parapet walls were constructed using the same construction materials and workmanship.

The experimental results of shaking table tests and static test are discussed, giving warnings to unbraced masonry walls which collapsed under a moderate earthquake.

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Keywords: Parapets, out-of-plane, braces, shaking table, tests, overturning.