Research
Current structural research at UBC includes analytical and experimental work in seismic engineering; mechanical properties and reliability of concrete, timber, and fiber-reinforced concrete structures; laboratory investigations of structural steel and structural concrete behaviour; numerical analysis of continua, expert systems and computer graphics.
Graduate courses are available in static and dynamic analysis, structural design, and reliability theory. The former include matrix structural analysis, advanced topics in nonlinear finite element methods, mechanics of continua, dynamics of structures, plates and shells. The latter include applications to prestressed and reinforced concretes, steel, timber, seismic design, and composite structures.
Facilities
The Department has a 4840 sq. ft. (450 m2) high head-room Structures Laboratory containing a 30 ft x 72 ft (9 m x 22 m) reaction floor which can be used with various moveable reaction frames and hydraulic loading systems for quasi-static testing of large-scale structural components. Two small universal testing machines are also available. Two MTS servo-controlled loading systems are available, with a range of jacks suitable for programmed cyclic and fatigue testing. These systems can be used for quasi-static earthquake testing of structural components. A computer-based data acquisition system is available for on-line data reduction and analysis with links to other computers.
A 10 ft x 10 ft (3 m x 3 m) shake table, with 4 degrees of digitally controlled motion, is available in the Earthquake Engineering Research Facility to study the dynamic response of test models and components to simulated earthquake motion. The table will be increased to 4 m x 4 m and 6 degrees of freedom. The EERF also houses a larger linear shake table. The Earthquake Laboratory equipment also includes several digital systems for field vibration testing of structures. Those include accelerometers, computer hardware, and in-house developed computer software to analyze data in a very fast and reliable manner.
Civil Engineering Structural Faculty
| Perry Adebar | Concrete structures, seismic design, high-rise concrete buildings, shear design, evaluation and repair of concrete structures. |
| Ken Elwood | Earthquake engineering, performance-based seismic design, seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete structures, seismic retrofit, characterization of seismic demands, non-linear structural analysis and shake table testing. |
| Terje Haukaas | Structural safety, probabilistic methods in civil engineering, finite element reliability analysis, response sensitivity analysis, design procedures, computational mechanics, software development, structural analysis and earthquake engineering. |
| Siegfried F. Stiemer | Steel structures, design methodology, experimental and analytical investigations of structural behaviour, earthquake resistant design, computer applications in engineering design, expert systems and Al methods. |
| Reza Vaziri | Applied mechanics, behaviour of composite materials, non-linear finite element analysis, impact dynamics and structural engineering. |
| Carlos E. Ventura | Structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, experimental structural dynamics, earthquake damage, computer modelling, field vibration testing, structural analysis and behaviour. |
Faculty in Related Areas
| Nemkumar Banthia | Portland cement and concrete and its fiber reinforced composites, shotcrete, impact, repairs and fiber reinforced plastics. |
Active Emeritus Faculty
| Donald L. Anderson | Earthquake engineering, solid mechanics, structural analysis and structural dynamics. |
| Sheldon Cherry | Earthquake engineering, structural dynamics, seismic response control of structures, passive and semi-active control, shake-table testing. |
| Ricardo O. Foschi | Structural reliability, applied mechanics, timber structures. |
| Sidney Mindess | Portland cement and concrete, materials testing and fracture mechanics. |
| Robert G. Sexsmith | Structural behaviour and design, bridge design, seismic engineering, structural safety and decision analysis. |
