Study level

  • Honours
  • Vacation research experience scheme

Faculty/School

Faculty of Engineering

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for Materials Science

Centre for the Environment

Supervisors

Dr Hossein Derakhshan
Position
Senior Lecturer
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Engineering

Overview

Wind and cyclonic actions are important in the design of new buildings in many Australian regions including in QLD. Cyclone Tracy in NT proved that older masonry building were particularly vulnerable to cyclonic actions, and the even resulted in the improvement of construction codes.

However, there are many buildings that predate the introduction of modern codes. These buildings may be vulnerable to wind and cyclonic actions. This project has been designed to study the wind vulnerability of older masonry buildings and methods to upgrade them.

Research activities

Following a literature review, you will:

  • use an available database of buildings (including building geometries and geographical data) to evaluate the applicable wind loads based on Australian standards
  • compare the loading to structural capacities
  • work on the development of a concept design for structural strengthening
  • develop a geo-database of vulnerable buildings.

Outcomes

The outcome of this study includes a database of QLD buildings vulnerable to wind and/or cyclonic actions and a concept design to improve their strength.

Skills and experience

You should be enrolled in Bachelor of Civil Engineering with past/current enrollment in concrete and/or masonry design courses being preferred.

Keywords

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.