Broad aspects of Structural Engineering are being investigated using a variety of experimental, computational and theoretical techniques. The behaviour and design of various structural components are focused upon a range of deterministic and probabilistic loadings such as fire, blast, seismic and wind.

  • Response to Dynamic and Extreme Loads
    Wide-ranging research is being undertaken on hazard mitigation and structural robustness under extreme loads including earthquake, blast, impact and fire.
  • Steel and Composite Structures
    Research covers new and improved forms and components, including work on stainless steel components, elliptical hollow sections and prestressed members.
  • Buildings and Bridges
    Work in this area includes the behaviour of concrete buildings, buried and water-resistant concrete structures and performance assessment of concrete bridges.

List of sub-topics within this research area

Behaviour and design of structural steel components

  • Development of the Eurocode for steel structures
  • The Continuous Strength Method
  • Steel elliptical hollow sections
  • Cold-formed steelwork
  • Behaviour of metallic tubular and shell structures

A sample of some recent projects:

Visit the Steel Structures group website to find out more.

Behaviour and design of concrete structures

  • Nonlinear numerical analysis for cracking and deformation
  • Time and temperature dependent behaviour of concrete structures
  • Design and analysis of prestressed concrete structures
  • Design of beam-column joints
  • Dynamics and stability of plates, shells and piles
  • Reliability analysis of concrete structures
  • Soil/structure interaction
  • Use of blinding struts for cut and cover excavations
  • Strut and tie modelling

A sample of some recent projects:

Bridge engineering

  • Under-deck and combined cable-stayed bridges
  • Spatial arch bridges
  • Innovative bridge types
  • Structural response due to the accidental breakage of stay cables
  • Footbridges

A sample of some recent projects:

Earthquake engineering

  • Seismic performance of steel and composite structures
  • Seismic behaviour of concrete structures
  • Fluid-structure interaction
  • Response of buried pipelines
  • Testing techniques for seismic performance evaluation
  • Seismic vulnerability assessment and upgrading
  • Procedures for assessment of earthquake losses

A sample of some recent projects:

Fire blast and extreme loading

  • Analysis and design of multi-storey buildings under fire conditions
  • Fire and blast behaviour of offshore structures
  • Design of blastwalls for offshore topsides
  • Performance of composite sandwich components
  • Damage tolerance and residual strength of offshore structures
  • Stainless steel in fire
  • Fire resistance of steel-concrete composite buildings
  • Structures subject to coupled blast/fire scenarios
  • Robustness and progressive collapse of tall buildings
  • Response of offshore structures to extreme static/dynamic loading
  • Simplified modelling: SDOF blast models, buckling analysis, blast/fire resistance of beams and columns

A sample of some recent projects:

Steel and concrete composite construction

  • Behaviour and design of composite steel/concrete buildings and bridges
  • Static and fatigue behaviour of composite connections and members
  • Performance of semi-rigid and partial strength connections

A sample of some recent projects:

Structural reliability and assessment

  • Deterioration and lifetime assessment of structures
  • Structural reliability of components and systems
  • Risk and reliability assessment of highway bridges
  • Risk assessment of structures under extreme loading

A sample of some recent projects: