1.

Self-Centering Concrete Structures

- Faculty Supervisor : Dan Palermo
- York University Toronto Otario
My area of research is behaviour of concrete structures and includes both
experimental testing and nonlinear numerical modelling. My research
includes emerging materials for improved seismic performance of concrete
structures, and repair and retrofit of concrete structures.
Recent major seismic events, including the 2011 New Zealand Earthquake
and the 2010 Chile Earthquake, have demonstrated similar trends to
previous earthquakes; that current state-of-the-art seismic design codes
ensure, for the most part, that loss of life is avoided. It is accepted in the
engineering community that significant damage can be expected for major
earthquakes. However, building officials and owners are not aware that
many structures will not be serviceable after a major earthquake, resulting in
significant economic consequences. This has led to the development of selfcentering structural methodologies that result in a structure that is
serviceable after an earthquake and, furthermore, reduces permanent
damage. The recent emergence of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) for
structural engineering applications has provided new opportunities for
developing novel self-centering structural systems. Superelastic SMAs are
characterized by significant strength, strain, ductility and energy dissipation
capacities. However, the most appealing feature is the capacity to restore to
its original shape.
The objective of this research program is to investigate and develop new
self-centering technologies for concrete structures by exploiting the salient
features of superelastic SMAs. This program includes numerical modelling
and experimental testing. The Globalink student will contribute to numerical
studies and small-scale experimental tests.
Currently, a long-term experimental program is ongoing which focuses on
old construction, in particular non-ductile structural components, such as
poorly detailed reinforced concrete shear walls and frames. The structural
components are detailed according to pre-1970s design standards, such as
the American Concrete Institute Standard ACI 318-63; a representative
benchmark standard for structural concrete design practice prior to the
enactment of seismic design provisions. Retrofit strategies will be

investigated including using SMAs as external diagonal bracing. For

optimization, a system will be developed where a short SMA link will be
coupled with rigid steel elements in an X-bracing retrofit. The Globalink
student will contribute to this research project by conducting complementary
nonlinear finite element modelling.
The nonlinear finite element research will first focus on corroborating a
recently developed hysteretc material model for superelastic SMAs. The
model has been implemented in a nonlinear two-dimensional finite element
software package. The new model requires corroboration against test data
compiled during the experimental testing program and existing test data
available in the literature. After the initial corroboration, nonlinear numerical
modelling of structural components reinforced with SMAs to assess the selfcentering potential under reverse cyclic loading and various earthquake
ground motions representative of seismic hazard in Canada will be
conducted. The modelling will consider old construction using SMAs as
retrofitting devices. The Globalink student will first be trained on the finite
element software and then corroborate the material model and develop
retrofitting strategies using numerical modelling.

The Globalink student is expected to contribute to numerical studies and

small-scale testing. The student will work closely with our research group
that is involved in this project. For the numerical program, the student will
first be trained in finite element analysis, specifically for reinforced concrete,
by our research group, and then be involved in conducting numerical studies
of reinforced concrete elements reinforced with SMAs. The modelling will
include corroborating a recently developed and implemented SMA material
model, followed by investigating various retrofitting strategies for improved
seismic performance. The numerical studies will include nonlinear static and
dynamic analysis, thus, the Globalink student will also be trained in these
areas. For both the numerical and experimental studies, the Globalink
student will be supervised by our research group, which is directed by the
applicant. Regarding the experimental program, the Globalink student will
work in a Structures Laboratory at York University and be exposed to
concrete building construction, including building formwork, placing
reinforcing steel, casting concrete, and instrumentation of test specimens.

The testing component will include visual observations and taking notes
during the testing.

The Globalink student should be a civil engineering student or equivalent

with an interest in reinforced concrete structures, seismic design, emerging
materials, and numerical modelling. The student should have taken courses
in materials. Knowledge of design of concrete structures and structural
analysis is not necessarily required but an asset. The Globalink student
should be interested in modelling and working in a structures laboratory. The
student should also be a team player.
2. Structural Monitoring to Assess Deteriorated Infrastructure (New)
- Faculty Supervisor: Neil Hoult
- Queens University Kingston Ontario
Professor Hoult undertakes research in the area of structural monitoring
using a variety of technologies including fibre optic sensors, wireless sensor
networks and digital image correlation. He also investigates the performance
of deteriorated infrastructure using a combination of lab based experiments
and field monitoring.
An infrastructure crisis looms for countries around the World as
infrastructure built in the middle of the last century comes to the end of its
intended service life. What seems like a straightforward question, how much
deterioration is too much deterioration? is the key to dealing with this crisis.
One of the leading causes of infrastructure deterioration is the corrosion of
steel. Steel corrosion impacts reinforced concrete structures by not only
reducing the amount of reinforcing steel available to resist applied loads such
as vehicles and snow, but also by causing surrounding concrete to fall off.
Similarly, steel culverts under roads experience corrosion caused by the
water they are designed to transport. In both cases, while the deterioration
caused by this corrosion is obvious, the impact of this corrosion on the
structures ability to perform its intended function is not. The proposed
research project intends to help fill this know ledge gap.

This project is designed to give the successful candidate the opportunity to

experience what is involved in being a civil engineering researcher in Canada
by joining a team working towards developing a better understanding of
infrastructure deterioration. The project will involve undertaking a series of
experiments (both small and large-scale) to investigate the impact of
corrosion on the capacity of complex structural systems. There will be 4 main
tasks within the project: (i) small-scale experiment design and construction,
(ii) large-scale experiment preparation including instrumentation with
sensors, (iii) the testing of the specimens and (iv) initial analysis of the test
results with the assistance of the research team. The research will involve
the use of both conventional instrumentation as well as the chance to use
novel sensor technologies. These technologies include a digital imagebased 2-D displacement sensor system (which was developed by Dr. Andy
Take of Queens) and a fibre optic sensor system, which is the only one of
its kind used for civil engineering applications in Canada. The successful
candidate will work under Dr. Hoults direct supervision but will also interact
with graduate researchers in Dr. Hoults research group.
A key step in providing sustainable infrastructure is to develop a better
understanding of infrastructure deterioration so that better decisions about
infrastructure service lives and maintenance requirements can be made.
This improved understanding will allow existing structures to be assessed in
a more accurate and less conservative fashion, meaning that structures that
would have been taken out of service based on current assessment
techniques can potentially be left in service longer, thus amortizing their
capital cost and carbon footprint over a longer period. Additionally, the design
of new structures can be optimized based on a better understanding of how
deterioration mechanisms will affect their behaviour, which has a number of
knock-on effects including reduced carbon emissions for material transport
and manufacturing.
A research assistant (RA) is required for a 12 week project to participate
in a research program designed to enhance our understanding of the
behaviour of structures that have deteriorated due to corrosion. Working
under Dr. Hoults supervision the candidate will work with a research team.
The project will involve designing, constructing and running a series of

experiments intended to investigate the effect of corrosion on both reinforced

concrete and buried structures. The successful candidate will also work with
novel sensor technologies, such as digital image-based and fibre optic strain
sensors to obtain a comprehensive set of data, that can be used to better
understand deteriorated infrastructure performance. The RA will then work
with the research team, led by Dr. Hoult to analyse and model the results.

As part of the project the student will undertake the following activities:
Experimental planning the candidate will be given the opportunity to
design experiments and then follow the process through to implementation.
Experimental construction and testing the candidate will be involved in
the instrumentation, construction and running of experiments.
Professional skills the candidate will work with colleagues in the Civil
Engineering Department including faculty members, graduate students and
technicians. This will require the development of interpersonal skills as well
as accurate record keeping.
Project management the candidate will be given the opportunity to
undertake a set of small-scale experiments as part of the larger research
project. The candidate, with the help of Dr. Hoult, will learn how to budget
both time and money to ensure a successful outcome.
It is anticipated that the successful candidate will have finished their third
year in Civil Engineering (although highly qualified candidates from a related
discipline will also be considered). The successful candidate will be selfmotivated and able to work independently. This project offers a unique
opportunity for a student to apply the skills they have gained as part of their
core undergraduate studies to a research project. Courses that will be useful
include: Solid Mechanics, Structural Analysis, Structural Design, and
Geotechnical Engineering.
3. Repair, retrofit and strengthening of reinforced concrete shear
walls with Fibre-Reinforced Polymers (FRP)
- Supervisor: David Lau
- Cerleton University Ottawa Ontario

Advanced structural systems, Bridges and buildings, Computer modeling

and analysis of complex structures and systems, Earthquake engineering,
Hybrid testing, Integrated risk assessment and mitigation, Lifeline structures
and systems, Non-structural components, Performance based design,
Seismic risk, Structural dynamics, Structural health monitoring, Structural
retrofit and rehabilitation
Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are a common type of lateral load
resisting system frequently found in structures located in seismically active
regions. Although current practices for design of shear walls have been
significantly improved in recent decades (ACI 318-08; CSA A23.3 2004),
many older shear wall buildings are still at risk of suffering severe damage
during moderate or large earthquakes because of insufficient in-plane
stiffness, flexural and shear strengths and/or ductility. An attractive,
minimally disruptive option for the repair and strengthening of shear walls in
existing RC structures is the use of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) sheets.
This project will involve an experimental research program to investigate the
effectiveness of using externally-bonded fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) tow
sheets for the seismic strengthening and repair of reinforced concrete (RC)
shear walls. The experimental program consisted of laboratory testing of
FRP-reinforced RC shear wall specimens under both repaired and
strengthened conditions. The effectiveness of two different anchoring
systems to transfer the loads carried by the FRP sheets to the supporting
elements of the wall is also investigated. The effectiveness of the externallybonded FRP reinforcing system in restoring (in repair applications) and
increasing (in strengthening applications) the initial stiffness and ultimate
load carrying capacity of the test walls will be investigated. Simple strength
models as well as advanced nonlinear computer models will be used to
predict the response behavior of walls with externally-bonded FRP sheets.
To participate with testing of the shear wall specimens in the laboratory and
analysis of the test data; computer modeling and analysis of shear wall
structures; and comparison of test results with computer model predictions.
Civil Engineering students with specialization in structural engineering;
computer skills including come knowledge about computer modeling and
analysis of structures would be very helpful.

4. Computer-Aided Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Frames (New)

- Supervisor Serhan Guner
- Ryerson University Toronto
Dr. Guner has over ten years of research, teaching and structural
engineering experience. His research interests include nonlinear analysis of
concrete structures subjected to static, impact, blast and earthquake loads,
computational modeling of concrete behaviour, computer programming, and
development of practical analysis software. He is a member of the joint ACIASCE Committee 447, Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete
Structures, and fib working party 4.4.7, Non-Linear Dynamic Analysis for
Seismic Evaluation of RC Frames.
Computer-aided linear-elastic analysis of frame structures is commonly
used in the design of buildings in practice. For the assessment of existing
structures, more advanced computer-based methods, such as nonlinear
analysis methods, are needed. The objective of this project is to analyze
several reinforced concrete frames and frame components (such as beams,
columns and shear wall) using computer software. The main focus will be to
use the advanced nonlinear analysis software and to compare the results
obtained with the experimental results already available. The project will
require a review of the literature and available computer software prior to
undertaking structural analyses.
Conduct literature review, use computer programs to model and analyze
structures, compare analysis results with experimental results, use Excel
spreadsheets, write reports in Word, meet with the professor regularly,
attend relevant courses, network with other students, and attend social
activities.
Civil Engineering background, interest in structural analysis and
computer applications, and knowledge on Excel spreadsheet applications.
Some knowledge on computer programing and structural analysis software,
such as SAP200, may be an asset but not required.

5. Numerical analysis of textile reinforced mortars used in

strengthening damaged concrete
- Ahmed El Refai
- University Laval Quebec
Civile engineering- repair and strengthening of concrete structures
Modelling concrete elements strengthened with textile reinforced mortars
Awaiting more information from the professor. Please check back soon. Do
not contact Globalink Research Internships.
Learn a new finite element software to be used to model the strengthened
elements Awaiting more information from the professor, so check back soon.
Please do not contact Globalink Research Internships.
Civil engineering background - software - finite element

6. Soil-structure interaction of green culverts

- Hany El Nagar
- Dalhousie Uni Halifax Nova Scotia
Environmentally acceptable disposal of scrapped tires is great challenge
nowadays for municipal governments gearing towards green communities.
Approximately 280 million tires are discarded each year in the United States
and Canada, with 30 % of them ends up occupying valuable landfill space.
This creates a huge demand and opportunity for the development of useful
products that may be derived from waste tires. Recycled materials can be
used to create sustainable infrastructure that requires less energy to
construct and maintain and has a lower carbon footprint (green
infrastructure). Numerous investigations have shown that waste tires have
unique merits as a green construction material that have suitable
applications in civil engineering such as highway embankments, landfills as
leachate drainage material, lightweight backfills for walls and bridge
abutments, for slope stabilization, stacked bales, and subgrade insulation for
roads. These promising applications not only provide a new construction
material but also help to provide sustainable solutions for several
environmental and economic problems. The applicant intends to study the
feasibility of using TDA above rigid culverts in order to reduce stresses from
the overburden. Rigid culverts overlain by high fills are often used in highway

construction and high fills result in large stresses in culverts particularly for
the cases where a non-yielding foundation conditions exist. The mechanical
properties of TDA promise that its use as a buffer zone to create stress
arching and reduce demand on rigid culverts structure is possible. The
proposed research intends to study the mechanical interaction between the
rigid culvert and TDA zones surrounding culvert considering both static and
seismic loading conditions.
The main objective of this research project is to study the interaction
mechanism between the buried culvert and TDA under both static and
seismic loading conditions. The proposed project involves experimental and
numerical components. Firstly, the characterization of TDA mechanical
properties that will be used in the study will be undertaken. The
characterization will comprise a series of laboratory tests, which will provide
mass, strength and stiffness properties of the material. Subsequently,
dynamic tests such as cyclic triaxial and resonant column tests will be carried
out in order to characterize the dynamic properties such as dynamic stiffness
degradation and damping curves. Subsequently, static and dynamic
numerical analyses will be performed in order to parametrically study the
culvert-TDA-backfill interaction under static and seismic loading conditions.
Different backfilling configurations will be studied (for example, full TDA
backfilling, half-way backfilling, and interchangeable TDA and granular
backfilling layers). Based on the results of the FE analyses, backfilling
guidelines will be developed that compromise between magnitude of stress
reduction, settlement, damping-ability and seismic performance. The finite
element program Abaqus will be used in numerical analyses.
The student will be trained to perform a series of laboratory tests to
determine the static and dynamic material properties of the TDA. Then,
he/she will be trained to conduct staged numerical modelling of geotechnical
problems. Then, he/she will develop a finite element model to parametrically
study the culvert-TDA-backfill interaction under static and seismic loading
conditions. The student will gain valuable skills in experimentation and
numerical modeling that are highly desirable and urgently needed by
industry, consulting companies and universities.
strong grasp of geomechanics, finite element analysis and soil-structure
interaction modeling.

7. Soil improvement by biocalcification: laboratory study

- Benoit Courcelles
- Politechnique de montreal - Quebec
In the context of global population growth, infrastructure demands are
important in many countries, particularly in India and China. For example, 10
million people immigrate to major cities each year in China and the need in
new infrastructures is consequent. This population pressure is particularly
severe for historic cities and regions where expansion is limited by
geographical boundaries and inadequate soil conditions. In such a context,
new soil improvement technologies such as biocalcification of soils are under
development.
The biocalcification of soils represents an alternative to traditional injection
techniques. Instead of filling the pores of a granular media with grout,
bacteria and nutrients are injected in a sandy soil and the soil improvement
is achieved by the formation of calcite through a urea hydrolysis process. To
contribute to the development of this new technology, the project will consist
in a laboratory study dedicated to the relation between the amount of calcite,
the hydraulic behavior and the soil bearing capacities of soils. To determinate
this relation, a lab test program will be implemented and will consist in
injection experiments at varying concentrations and flow rates, associated to
permeability and triaxial tests to determine the mechanical characteristics of
a treated soil.
The candidate will be in charge of lab test experiments that will support
other team workers involved in the modeling part of the research program. It
is to be noted that the project will be focused on soil mechanics and that no
experience with bacteria or any other biotechnology is required.
civil engineering with specialisation or strong initiation to geotechnical
aspects, soil mechanics and hydraulics, geotechnical tests (permeability and
triaxial tests).