“Faculty of Civil Engineering”

Techniques for reducing the seismic risk of infrastructure in Peru

Course: Writing For Engineering

Teacher: Tello Flores, Gianina Nella

Student name Student Code

Jara Chavez, Kelly Alessandra 1521157

Lima-Perú
2018-02
ABSTRACT
Earthquakes have always been a problem for civil engineers. The aim of this study was to build a model
house which was stronger to the loads emitted by this type of disaster. Two test were constructed in
order to compare their behaviours when an earthquake was applied. One of these test was made with
confined masonry and the other was built with unconfined masonry. We find that confined masonry
supports a load caused by an earthquake much more that unconfined masonry, it does not show any
damage. It indicates that there is a possibility of building safer houses with a high index of resistance.
This approach can be applied in the Coast of Peru since these areas are susceptible to earthquakes.

INTRODUCTION
For more than 100 years engineers have tried to investigate the magnitude of the earthquakes and the
impact than they has in constructions as a result much research in recent years has focused on the study
of techniques to avoid serious damages caused by earthquakes and to build sustainable infrastructures.
The constructions in Peru are not made for disasters the take place in our country. The impact of these
earthquakes is much greater than the resistance of the houses. One example of this is Pisco. In this case
the houses that do not have a good construction process did not resist the magnitude of the earthquake
and had severe damage to their buildings. However, although the people are aware of these facts, they
continue to build their houses without following the guidelines given by the ministry and without using
the appropriate materials.

Researches have studied and evaluated the reason why the damages caused by earthquakes is increasing
despite new technologies. Caballero (2007) showed that a great number of structures have different
structural and design problems. Therefore, they are not built using seismic criteria. Maldonado et all
(2008) developed simulations of vulnerability and probabilities of seismic damage in reinforced
concrete building due to the great material losses that have taken place in the last years. However, these
techniques have been largely unsuccessful because structures that they focus are built by concrete. In
our country, most constructions are made of adobe, wood or bricks. All these have a high index of
vulnerability so they are quite fickle to the earthquakes as to other disasters.

This paper focuses on the impact that an earthquake can cause and how to reduce the damages. In order
to investigate this issue we need to implement a better ground study to can build in adequate zones,
moreover, the confined masonry could be a good option to increase the resistance of the houses.
METHODOLOGY

The current investigation involved the seismic simulation of masonry structures confined on a vibratory
table. The confined masonry is a technique which has some elements made by concrete, such as beams
and columns. The objective was determined the seismic behaviour in a vibrating table of a confined
masonry wall and a masonry wall without confinement. The test was done check if this technique
improves the resistance and ductility of the houses. Therefore the damages caused by earthquakes could
be reduced. The vibratory table and the test in general were used in Nestor Caceres University.

In this process, we used three main elements: two types of walls and the vibrating table. The walls used
contained the same materials. The difference between both was their constructive process. In the tests
the magnitude of the earthquake that had the epicentre in Pisco was used. In the first place, for confined
wall, we started by building of the foundation beam, the construction of the brick wall and finally the
emptying of concrete in the columns and beams. This order was used because it determined the strength
of the entire wall in general. Following this process we were sure that bricks would be integrated with
the columns and beams. Therefore the resistance, the rigidity and flexibility of the structure increased.
On the other hand, for the construction of the wall without confinement, an entire structure made of
concrete was firstly constructed and then the brick wall was made. We did this structure to simulate the
traditional houses in our country. In both tests had to be careful with the structural design, the
construction process, the quality of materials and the water/cement ratio of the concrete mixture. A
small change in one of these factors would alter the strength of your structure. Finally, both experiments
were put on the vibrating table and the load of earthquake was applied.

There is another constructive method called “Armed Masonry” which is similar to confined masonry,
but with some changes like using blocks of concrete instead of bricks. This method gives a high
flexibility to the structure nevertheless the problem is the price. Although our constructive system made
by masonry does not have as high strength as the one mentioned above, it is much more accessible to
the population. A problem with the constructive process of the confined wall was in the moorings
between bricks and columns. Some bricks (due to the lack of humidity) did not integrate very well with
the column. Even so this variation did not affect the structure in general since the rest was well done.
RESULTS

The main purpose of this work was to improve the structure of houses. As discussed previously, in the
coast of our country most buildings have a higher index of vulnerability to earthquakes. Generally
speaking, the methodology consisted of comparing the masonry confined and without confinement. The
overall response was using the method described previously, we obtained good results, the confined
wall supported the magnitude of earthquake in Pisco.

Figure 1

Figure 1 shows a confined wall which was built with bricks, columns and beams made of concrete. This
wall was subjected to a lateral load that simulated the impact of an earthquake. In this case the masonry
wall confined did not suffer any damage. The properties of the wall remained constant before and after
the seismic simulation. The structural behaviour was considerably appropriate according to the
resistance tested of each element. The results were strongly confirmed, the confined masonry wall
withstood the magnitude of the earthquake, and no failure occurred. However, in the unconfined wall,
faults occurred since the earthquake was applied.

However, the results obtained are not always reliable. The reason for this is the period of time in which
the magnitude of the earthquake is applied. In the trial a period of time of 60 seconds was used. If we
extend this time, the structure begins to suffer damage.

This suggests that we have to improve the limit of elasticity and the resistance of materials.
CONCLUSIONS

In this study we investigated the constructions in Peru and the techniques used. There are different ways
to build a house such as masonry. Although this technique is usually used, the result is no better. That
is the reason we decided to use confined masonry. We found that the wall built using this method did
not show any cracks.

The confined masonry demonstrated to be similar to reinforced concrete. Our results showed a high
resistance in structures which were subjected to an earthquake of seven points on the scale of Richter.
These results are slightly compared to the results usually obtained in structures tests made only of
reinforced concrete.

Our results provide compelling evidence that the resistance could be increased if the technique was
correctly used. The damage caused by earthquakes would be reduced because the houses built with this
method would be prepared for an earthquake. This represents a new approach which helps to build safer
houses.

Future studies should improve the confined masonry technique with the new technologies that exist in
this century because it is a cheap and efficient method to increase the resistance of house when an
earthquake happens.

Our technique can be applied to houses located anywhere in Peru because this technique is general, the
only thing that could be changed is the type of cement and additives according to the area.
Bibliography

1. Julio Kuroiwa Horiuchi. (Marzo 2016). Manual Para La Reducción Del Riesgo Sísmico De
Viviendas En El Perú. Ministerio De Vivienda, Construcción Y Saneamiento, Primera Edición,
112.
2. Marco Antonio Ordoñez Flores. (2016). “Diseño Y Evaluación De Tipos De Muros De
Albañilería Sometidos A La Simulación Del Máximo Sismo Ocurrido En La Región Sur En
Una Mesa Vibratoria”. Facultad De Ingenierías Y Ciencias Puras, Primero, 176.
3. Carlos Zavala et al.. (2004). Guía Para la Construcción con Albañilería. Construyendo
Edificaciones De Albañilería con Tecnologías Apropiadas, Primera Edición, 30.