Evaluation of creative problem solving abilities in undergraduate structural engineers through interdisciplinary problem based learning

For a structural engineer, effective communication and interaction with architects cannot be underestimated as a key skill to success throughout their professional career. Structural engineers and architects have to share a common language and understanding of each other in order to achieve the most desirable architectural and structural designs. This interaction and engagement develops during their professional career but needs to be nurtured during their undergraduate studies. The objective of this paper is to present the strategies employed to engage higher order thinking in structural engineering students in order to help them solve complex problem-based learning (PBL) design scenarios presented by architecture students. The strategies employed were applied in the experimental setting of an undergraduate module in structural engineering at Queen’s University Belfast in the UK. The strategies employed were active learning to engage with content knowledge, the use of physical conceptual structural models to reinforce key concepts and finally, reinforcing the need for hand sketching of ideas to promote higher order problem-solving. The strategies employed were evaluated through student survey, student feedback and module facilitator (this author) reflection. The strategies were qualitatively perceived by the tutor and quantitatively evaluated by students in a cross-sectional study to help interaction with the architecture students, aid interdisciplinary learning and help students creatively solve problems (through higher order thinking). The students clearly enjoyed this module and in particular interacting with structural engineering tutors and students from another disciplin

Experimental axial-compressive behaviour of bare cold-formed-steel studs with semirigid-track and ideal-hinged boundary-conditions

Studs are the primary load-bearing components in cold-formed steel (CFS) wall panels, connected to tracks at both ends with self-tapping screws, forming a semirigid boundary condition (BCT). Most existing tests on the axial compressive behaviour of bare CFS studs are based on either theoretically-hinged (BCH) or fully-fixed boundary conditions. Previous researchers have employed BCT only on sheathed stud-wall panels. However, practicing engineers and current design codes, e.g., Eurocode 3, follow an all-steel design. Therefore, this research experimentally investigated bare-CFS-studs' axial compressive behaviour with BCT, considering, for the first time, the combined effect of the tracks' warping rigidity, stud-to-track gap, non-linear connection stiffness, and bare studs' various cross-sectional slenderness. Forty-two industry-standard lipped channel sections (studs) of five thicknesses (1.2-3 mm), three depths (75–125 mm), and two heights (1.2 & 1.5 m) were tested under static-concentric axial compressive loading with BCT. Another fourteen studs were tested with BCH, a comparator to BCT. Results demonstrated that the studs' global failure mechanisms were flexural-torsional in BCT instead of flexural in BCH. Studs' axial stiffness was two-phased in BCT due to the stud-to-track gap, compared to single-phased stiffness in BCH. >1.8 mm stud-to-track gap caused stud-to-track connections' failure and studs' sudden capacity reduction during gap closure. Studs achieved 1.22 times higher axial-compressive strength, 2.3 times more axial-shortening, 0.7 times lower axial stiffness, and 58% lower axial-compressive strain at the web-midheight under BCT-PhaseII than BCH. Tested strengths were compared with EC3 design strength, and an effective-length-factor of 0.65 was suggested for efficient design of studs with BCT

A 3D computational fluid dynamics validation study for the Queensferry Crossing Bridge with bus models on the deck

The 2022 Civil Engineering Research in Ireland (CERI) and Irish Transportation Research Network (ITRN) Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 25-26th August 2022In this paper, 3D CFD models of a bridge section of the Queensferry Crossing Bridge including a bus and other secondary structures on the deck are developed in OpenFOAM using the k-ω-SST turbulence model to determine the aerodynamic coefficients. The aerodynamic performance of the bridge deck accounting for several angles of attack with the bus located in various traffic lanes is investigated. The models are then validated with wind tunnel test results and good agreement is found between the 3D CFD models and the wind tunnel tests. The importance of the validated models is that they can be used in the future to study what wind speed should be set as a limit to prevent high-sided vehicles from overturning on the Queensferry Crossing Bridge.University College DublinChinese Scholarship Counci

An experimental investigation into span length effect in composite CFS and timber-based flooring systems

Cold-formed steel (CFS) panelised built-offsite modern methods of construction offer economy of scale, high precision, reduction in construction waste and a more streamlined manufacturing and construction process, compared to traditional construction. Floors made with CFS joists and timber-based flooring systems, often jointed using screws and structural adhesives, have become increasingly popular. Nevertheless, the beneficial effect of the timber flooring on overall floor structural behaviour is often ignored in design due to limited understanding of CFS joist-timber board interaction and the effect of various influencing parameters. This article investigates, experimentally, the structural performance of such composite floors. This paper presents eighteen large scale bending tests of CFS composite floors and five pushout tests to investigate the effect of span length on composite action. The results demonstrate that a high degree of composite action can be achieved when both screws and adhesives are utilised, resulting in around 40% increase in flexural stiffness when compared to joist performance without boards. This can lead to a more efficient and sustainable design of CFS joisted floors. The results also show that further research is needed to extend existing design equations to cover short span lengths.European Commission Horizon 2020UK Research and Innovation, Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) programm

Full-scale computational fluid dynamics study on wind condition of the long-span Queensferry Crossing Bridge

To date, the majority of numerical modelling [computational fluid dynamics (CFD)] studies on long-span bridges have been carried out on scaled physical models, and without field-data for validation. For the first time, a full-scale bridge aerodynamic CFD study was conducted in this paper. A full-scale three-dimensional CFD model of the middle span and central tower of the Queensferry Crossing, United Kingdom, was created. The aim of this work was accurately simulating the wind field around the bridge. The CFD simulations were developed in OpenFOAM with the k − ω SST turbulence model. Atmospheric boundary layer inflows were configured based on wind profiles provided by a full-scale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. CFD predictions were validated with field data which were collected from an on-site Structural Health Monitoring System. The simulated fluctuating wind field closely satisfied the characteristic of field data and demonstrated that the modelling approach had good potential to be used in practical bridge aerodynamic studies. Meanwhile, comparisons and sensitivity analyses on mesh density provided a reference modelling approach for any future works on full-scale bridge aerodynamic models. Additionally, a cylindrical-like domain was applied in bridge aerodynamics for the first time and verified as being a convenient and reliable way to be used in bridge studies that involve changes in yaw angle.University College DublinChinese Scholarship CouncilOpen Access funding provided by the IReL Consortiu

Wavelet-based operating deflection shapes for locating scour-related stiffness losses in multi-span bridges

Scour erosion poses a significant risk to bridge safety worldwide and remains among the top causes of failure. Scour at bridge foundations changes the stiffness of the soil-foundation system, resulting in global changes in the dynamic behavior of the bridge. In this paper, a new approach to detect the loss in foundation stiffness resulting from scour at multiple foundation locations is proposed, using wavelet-based Operating Deflection Shape (ODS) amplitudes. A numerical model of a bridge with four simply supported spans resting on piers is used to introduce and test the approach. Scour erosion is modelled as a reduction in vertical foundation stiffness under one or multiple bridge piers. A fleet of passing trucks, modelled as half-car vehicles, are used to excite the bridge to enable structural accelerations be calculated at an ‘accelerometer’ (sensor node) located at each support. The proposed method is shown to be effective with only one accelerometer at each support location in a multi-span bridge. Using a statistical population of passing vehicles, the temporal accelerations measured at each support are averaged and transformed into the frequency–spatial domain, in order to estimate the wavelet-based ODS for a given scour case. A damage indicator is postulated based on differences between the ODS of healthy and scoured bridge cases. The damage indicator enables visual identification of the location of scoured piers considering a range of natural frequencies of the system

Laboratory investigation of a bridge scour monitoring method using decentralized modal analysis

Scour is a significant issue for bridges worldwide that influences the global stiffness of bridge structures and hence alters the dynamic behaviour of these systems. For the first time, this article presents a new approach to detect bridge scour at shallow pad foundations, using a decentralized modal analysis approach through re-deployable accelerometers to extract modal information. A numerical model of a bridge with four simply supported spans on piers is created to test the approach. Scour is modelled as a reduction in foundation stiffness under a given pier. A passing half-car vehicle model is simulated to excite the bridge in phases of measurement to obtain segments of the mode shape using output-only modal analysis. Two points of the bridge are used to obtain modal amplitudes in each phase, which are combined to estimate the global mode shape. A damage indicator is postulated based on fitting curves to the mode shapes, using maximum likelihood, which can locate scour damage. The root mean square difference between the healthy and scoured mode shape curves exhibits an almost linear increase with increasing foundation stiffness loss under scour. Experimental tests have been carried out on a scaled model bridge to validate the approach presented in this article