The University of British Columbia

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.

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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.

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Courses

Graduate Courses
504	Seismicity and Seismic Design Parameters
505	Seismic Response of Structures
506	Seismic Design of Concrete Structures
507	Dynamics of Structures I
508	Dynamics of Structures II
510	Behaviours of Steel Structures
511	Advanced Topics in Steel Structures
513	Concrete Structures
515	Bridge Design and Construction
516	Behaviour of Timber Structures
517	Advanced Topics in Timber Structures
518	Reliability and Structural Safety
535	Elasticity
536	Plasticity
537	Computational Mechanics I - Numerical Techniques
538	Computational Mechanics II
539	Advanced Theory of Structures
Elective Courses
In addition, there is a rich selection of courses in related areas, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in: Mechanical Engineering, Metals and Materials Engineering, Mathematics, and Statistics.

 

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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.
Helmut G. L. Prion	Steel and timber structures, structural behaviour, connection design and earthquake resistance.
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.

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