Bilinear experimental curve of masonry walls made with horizontal hollow brick units

In recent decades, population density has increased in many Peruvian cities. According to the 2017 Peruvian census, more than 4.3 million dwellings are made with bricks or cement blocks. Although Peruvian Codes do not consider the construction of horizontal hollow brick units (HHB) walls because of their fragile behaviour, people use this type of bricks because they are cheaper than solid industrial bricks. Walls made with HHB units should be used only as partition walls and consider some confining elements. At least 60% of all confined masonry dwellings are considered non-engineered buildings, i.e. buildings with no engineering design or construction supervision and where the use of HHB loadbearing walls is abundant. In an earthquake of 8.0 Mw or more severe, many non-engineered buildings may collapse. Then, it is crucial to evaluate the seismic capacity of walls made of HHB units and compare their lateral capacity and displacement ductility. Therefore, this paper collected and analysed a compilation of different in-plane cyclic experimental tests performed on masonry walls (HHB with and without external reinforcement) by Peruvian researchers. Subsequently, the authors proposed a bilinear curve for the HHB walls to be used in further analytical studies. Although there are some reinforcement alternatives for masonry walls, welded steel mesh is considered for comparison. © 2022, University of Cantabria - Building Technology R&D Group. All rights reserved.