Development of light-weight demountable and reusable steel-concrete composite beam for construction in earthquake regions

Steel-concrete composite beam systems are extensively adopted in buildings and bridges. They exhibit competitive behaviour owing to the composite interaction between steel and concrete members, in which the steel beam and concrete slab are bonded together through shear connectors. However, in current construction practice, this composite action is mostly achieved through shear studs welded to the steel beam flange and embedded in the concrete slab. When the composite structure reaches the end of its design life, these welded shear connectors make dismantling, alteration and deconstruction of the composite structure almost impossible, thus the steel member must go through a recycling process and concrete component must be crushed and treated as waste. Neither of them can be reused straight-away.

Therefore, demountable shear connectors are used as an alternative to welded connectors in composite structures is a favourable solution and which supports sustainable construction practice. Unlike welded shear connectors, the demountable shear connectors are dismountable, enabling the steel beam and concrete slab to be separated and reused without recycling or crushing processes, provided that they are undamaged. Based on the research done in the Sustainable Environments Research Centre at the University of Bradford in the past, this PhD research project will aim to develop an innovative and sustainable steel-concrete composite beam system suitable for buildings in earthquake regions. You are expected to construct and test composite beam specimens, develop finite element model and conduct parameter study, disseminate your research findings and recommendations to academic communities and construction industries via conferences and publication.

How to apply

Formal applications can be submitted via the University of Bradford web site; applicants will need to register an account and select ‘Full-time PhD in Civil and Structural Engineering’ as the course, and then specify the project title in the ‘Research Proposal’ section.

About the University of Bradford

Bradford is a research-active University supporting the highest-quality research. We excel in applying our research to benefit our stakeholders by working with employers and organisations world-wide across the private, public, voluntary and community sectors and actively encourage and support our postgraduate researchers to engage in research and business development activities.

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