Lehigh University: Fazlur Rahman Khan Distinguished Lecture Series

2018 Fazlur R. Khan
Distinguished Lecture Series

Honoring a legacy in structural engineering and architecture

Distinguished Lecturers

SURENDRA P. SHAH Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil Engineering (Emeritus) Northwestern University	ROBERT SINN Principal Thornton Tomasetti	YOZO FUJINO Distinguished Professor, Institute of Advanced Sciences Yokohama National University
Sustainability in Concrete Construction Based on Nanotechnology	From Bilbao to Jeddah: An Engineer's Journey	Lessons Learned from 30 Years of Experience in Dynamics, Monitoring and Control of Bridges

SURENDRA P. SHAH

Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil Engineering (Emeritus)
Northwestern University

Sustainability in Concrete Construction Based on Nanotechnology
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Friday, February 23, 2018 – 4:30 pm

Location: Whitaker Lab 303, Lehigh University, 5 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA

Overview:

Super tall buildings such as the one km high Kingdom Tower are constructed with concrete as a structural material. Such tall buildings are made with so-called high performance concrete, which can have strength 5 times that of conventional concrete. The development of high strength concrete is a result of our understanding of particle packing, rheology and mincrostructure engineering. Concrete is a critical material for infrastructure; the world wide consuption of concrete is about 2 tons for every living human being. However, its continuing use will require improving its sustainability. Nanotechnology is playing an increasing role in making concrete more sustainable. Some examples are given.

One approach to making concrete more sustainable is to replace Portland cement (and its significant carbon foot print) with fly ash, a waste material from burning coal. When fly ash is replaced with Portland cement, the rate of strength development slows down, which is not desirable. Addition of nano particle such as nano silica accelerates the chemical reaction by providing nucleation sites.

Manipulation of concrete rheology has been a key to make concrete more constructable. The viscosity should be sufficiently small so that concrete can be pumped a great distance, but the material should be thixotropic to reduce the pressure on form work. Addition of a small amount of nanoclay can substantially reduce the form work pressure. Concrete is a brittle material, prone to cracking. To reinforce concrete at nano scale addition of carbon nano tube is studied. The key challenges include disperson and rheology.

MORE DETAILS available on Shah's presentation. (PDF)

ROBERT SINN

Principal
Thornton Tomasetti

From Bilbao to Jeddah: An Engineer's Journey
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Friday, March 23, 2018– 4:30 pm

Location: Whitaker Lab 303, Lehigh University, 5 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA

Overview:

Two projects conceived twenty years apart. One, a three-story museum in the capital city of Spain's Basque country, changed the face of architecture upon opening in 1997 and was labeled "the greatest building of our time" by architect Philip Johnson. The other, an audacious 240-story tower in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, is planned to be the first manmade structure to reach one kilometer in height - an achievement comparable to a Neil Armstrong moment for structural engineers and architects. The engineering logic and structural systems development for these landmark projects are important chapters in the ongoing story of computer-based geometric and structural engineering analysis within the building industry. The presentation will compare the two projects, focusing on the key technical challenges and the analytical tools available to realize these groundbreaking designs.

MORE DETAILS availalable on Sinn's presentation. (PDF)

YOZO FUJINO

Distinguished Professor of Institute of Advanced Sciences
Yokohama National University

Lessons Learned from 30 Years of Experience in Dynamics, Monitoring and Control of Bridges
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Friday, April 13, 2018– 4:30 pm

Location: Whitaker Lab 303, Lehigh University, 5 East Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA

Overview:

Increasingly, bridges exhibit excessive vibration due to longer spans and greater flexibility, as well as excessive loading; hence, various control remedies have been developed and applied. Based on Prof. Fujino's extensive experience, various vibration displayed by existing bridges and their control are surveyed. The importance of measured vibration responses will also be presented through several examples. It is strongly stressed that monitoring in situ performance of bridges under in-service loads is essential for not only better understanding of bridge behavior, but also better lifetime management.

MORE DETAILS available on Fujino's presentation. (PDF)