Research Thrust II
Advanced structural engineering solutions for improving the safety and performance of civil infrastructures
The research projects and activities in this thrust are centered on addressing the immediate needs of the building and bridge industries. Considering both fundamental and practical aspects, our research group works on developing innovative solutions to transform how conventional structures respond to various environmental and mechanical stressors.
Our relevant sponsored projects can be broadly categorized into:
Building Structures
As part of our research activities related to building structures, we work on the performance-based design and assessment of buildings subjected to earthquake and wind events. This has been with a special focus on smart morphing facades. The building envelope is known to play a key role in attaining building energy efficiency and satisfactory indoor comfort, but this expectation faces limitations, especially in the context of wind-resistant buildings. The principle idea pursued is that the role of conventional facades can be transformed by changing them from static to dynamic systems, such as multifunctional facade modules and responsive building elements. By taking a global approach to the problem of vibration mitigation, our research group works to develop and analyze prototype building models of various sizes and shapes under extreme events.
One of the objectives of our ongoing research activities is to draw from the experimental and computational advancements made in the domain of impact analyses to transform the risk assessment of building envelope components subjected to windborne debris and hail hazards. Considering the growing number of buildings vulnerable to such extreme events, successful implementation of data-driven, multi-hazard design and assessment strategies is expected to greatly benefit the society by improving condition state predictions and enhancing the allocation of resources.
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Bridge Structures
In collaboration with multiple transportation agencies and industrial partners, our research group utilizes laboratory tests, field investigations, and numerical simulations to further improve the safety and performance of bridge structures.
The projects with a design and detailing focus span structural design and configuration of link slabs, design and analysis of a new T-beam for short-span bridges, investigation of exterior girder rotation and the effect of skew during deck placement, determination of forces in cross frames in curved girder bridges, integral abutment details (with and without UHPC) for Accelerated Bridge Construction, understanding shrinkage and temperature forces in frame piers, and design and detailing requirements for columns and barriers under collision.
The projects with a focus on the service life extension of deteriorating bridge structures include beam end repair for prestressed concrete beams, improving the bridge ends through abutment and approach slab details and water management practices, understanding the limitations for semi-integral abutment bridges, accelerated repair and replacement of expansion joints, and developing steel reinforcement section loss guidance tables for various bridge exposure conditions.