The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) will be hosting “An Introduction to Designing with FRP Composites for Civil and Environmental Engineers” webinar on Monday, April 4 at 11:30AM ET.
Discussion will be moderated by IACMI Infrastructure & Construction Working Group Leader Joe Fox.
You’re invited to attend at the ASCE member rate ($99) by using the discount code: IACMI20
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been a material of choice in aerospace, wind energy and marine applications and in the past decades have been increasing implementation in automotive and infrastructure applications.
This webinar introduces materials (fibers and resins) and composite solutions (rebars and laminates), provides an overview on the basic mechanics of these solutions, and provides practical civil infrastructure examples using case studies involving the design of composite bridges, sheet piles for geotechnical infrastructure, structures in harsh environments such as cooling water towers, strengthening and repair of aging infrastructure, and seismic applications for wrapping columns.
References to existing design guides and specifications will be provided, while efforts underway to address development of acceptable safety factors for design codes will be addressed.
Structural engineers, geotechnical engineers, construction engineers, transportation engineers, and environmental and water resources engineers are encouraged to attend this webinar.
Webinar presenters include:
Dr. Dayakar Penumadu, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Dr. Penumadu has been a faculty member in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT) since fall 2001. He has been a member with ASCE since 1993. He currently holds Fred N. Peebles professorship and the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM) Chair of Excellence position, joint with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He served as the Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2007 to 2014. Prior to joining UT, he was a faculty member at Clarkson University for 8 years. Dr. Penumadu served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the national composites manufacturing institute IACMI and currently serves as a PI for two National Science Foundation Industry University Research Centers associated with fiber reinforced composite materials and dissimilar material joining. Dr. Penumadu has published extensively with a current h-index of 33 and over 120 peer-reviewed journal publications with 3,500+ citations. Dayakar Penumadu is an expert in the use of advanced materials, in particular in areas where such materials form a joint. His projects have helped improve everything from Volkswagen automobiles to rural Tennessee bridges.
Dr. Bill Davids, University of Maine
Dr. Davids is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maine, where he has taught and conducted research for 24 years. Bill served as department chair from 2012-2021, and was a bridge engineer at Sverdrup (now Jacobs) for four years prior to entering academia. Bill has conducted experimental and computational research in several areas of bridge engineering, including the use of concrete-composite hybrid structural members for bridge applications. He led the development of the AASHTO Guide Specification for Design of Concrete-Filled FRP Tubes for Flexural and Axial Members, and his most recent research has centered on the development of a novel FRP-concrete bridge girder that was first deployed in 2020. His other research interests include inflatable structures and the mechanics of solid and engineered wood. He has authored or co-authored 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals, is a co-inventor on three patents, and has produced three finite-element software packages that collectively see significant application in both academia and engineering practice. Bill holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington, B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine, and is a licensed PE in Maine.
Dr. Francisco De Caso, University of Miami
Dr. Francisco De Caso is a Principal Scientist at the University of Miami within the Dept. of Civil, and Architectural Engineering. His civil and structural engineering research is focused on resilient material systems, and encompass challenges related to mechanical behavior, the effect of aging and durability in materials, and design related aspects of elements and structural components using composite materials. In the past 10 years, he has gained experience in experimental methods, quality processes, design, and supported technology transfer activities of multiple composites systems and technologies for infrastructure applications including both externally bonded systems as well as internal composite rebars. Dr. De Caso has authored publications related to physio-mechanical properties of composites, modeling as well as structural behavior, investigating a wide range of organic and inorganic based composite systems. Dr. De Caso is the manager of the Structures and Materials Laboratory, an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025:2017 accredited laboratory and serves as Associate Director of the Center for Integration of Composites into Infrastructure.
Upon completion of this webinar, you’ll be able to define fiber-reinforced polymers and composites using thermosets or thermoplastics, explain manufacturing, properties, and performance of FRP composites, explain specific applications where FRPs are used in infrastructure and construction, apply standard specifications and design guidelines, and increase competitive value by applying advanced engineering solutions.