The experimental results of seven full-scale thin RC shear walls subjected to cycling loading are presented. The objective of these experiments is to evaluate the use of electro-welded wire mesh as the main reinforcement instead of a conventional reinforcement. Six walls are equipped with the electro-welded wire mesh, which is made of a non-ductile material, and one wall is reinforced with conventional bars, which are made of a ductile material. A single layer of main reinforcement is used in both directions. The edges of all walls are reinforced with conventional bars. These walls are widely used in low-and mid-rise buildings in central Peru, especially in Lima City. The structural behaviors are examined in terms of strength, stiffness, dissipated energy, and equivalent viscous damping. Finally, the "Three-parameter Park hysteretic model" is calibrated in order to reproduce the behaviors of the thin walls reinforced with the conventional reinforcement and electro welded-wire mesh. The parameters are applied to the results of the other walls reinforced by the electro-welded wire mesh. The results of numerical simulations are in good agreement with experimental results.

This project conducts comprehensive research on earthquake and tsunami disaster mitigation in Peru in the framework of "Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS)," sponsored by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project focuses on five research fields, i.e., seismic motion and geotechnical, tsunami, buildings, damage assessment, and disaster mitigation planning. Almost three years have passed since the five-year project started in March 2010. During this period, researchers in different fields from Japan and Peru collaborate to achieve the overall objectives of the project. This paper summarizes the research framework and progress of the JST-JICA project on earthquake and tsunami disaster mitigation technology in Peru.

The experimental results of four full-scale confined masonry (CM) walls subjected to cycling loading are presented. These structural elements are widely used in low-and mid-rise buildings in Peru to take the vertical and lateral loads. The objective of these experiments was to evaluate the cyclic behavior of CM walls constructed with handmade bricks and mortar.The brick units used in the walls were made of clay, and they were considered to be solid components. In the experiment, the dimensions of all the walls were kept constant in all specimens, but the reinforcement ratios of the confining elements (bond beam and tie-columns) were changed. The structural behaviors were examined in terms of the strength, lateral stiffness, dissipated energy, and equivalent viscous damping. Finally, an equivalent macro-model based on an equivalent strut approach with a smooth hysteretic model was calibrated and validated in order to reproduce the behaviors of the CM walls. For this purpose, we used a genetic algorithm (GA) that considered the experimental results of a CM wall. The parameters were applied to the results of the other CM walls to evaluate their applicability.The results of numerical simulations showed good agreement with the experimental results.

Confined masonry walls represent one of the most widely used construction systems for dwellings in Peru and other Latin countries. This study describes the procedure for implementing a database with a web interface of results collected from the experiments conducted over the years by the Japan Center for Earthquake Engineering and Disaster Mitigation. This paper attempts to contribute to the seismic design procedure of this type of structure, and parameters such as stiffness ratios and the deformation (drift) for the characteristic stages of confined masonry walls under different limit states or performance levels are proposed. Also, a semi-empirical equation for estimating the shear capacity using the database is proposed.

The Japanese and Peruvian experimental databases on confined brick masonry walls are put together as one database, and the strength and deformation of the walls are reviewed. First, the applicability of existing equations for the ultimate strength of reinforced concrete or reinforced masonry walls to the estimation of the maximum strength of confined brick masonry walls which failed in shear, flexural-shear, or flexure when subjected to lateral forces, is discussed. Then, empirical equations for the maximum strength, displacement at maximum strength, and ultimate state of the walls are proposed based on multiple regression analysis, and the accuracy of the proposed equations is discussed. It is concluded that the maximum strength can be estimated using the existing equations or the proposed empirical equations with good accuracy. The deformations at maximum strength and the ultimate state can be estimated using the proposed empirical equations, although there is a large amount of scatter.