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FRP in Civil Infrastructure, Current Status, Future Trends & Opportunities

11 March 2020, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm

111

Event Information

Open to

All

Organiser

Arash Nassirpour

Location

Room 102
013: Chadwick Building
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Advanced composites such as fiber reinforced polymers (FRP’s) possess many advantages over conventional materials used in the construction industry (e.g. concrete, steel, timber), such as high strength to weight ratio, shape flexibility, ease of application and corrosion resistance. However, irrespectively of many advantages of FRPs, penetration of FRPs in to construction materials market remain as low as 4%. Current FRP usage within the civil construction industry is largely focused on strengthening applications, while the advantages of using FRP’s in new structural systems remain largely unexploited. The use of FRP’s civil infrastructure presents a unique set of technological challenges, where innovative solutions resulting in efficient, economical, and sustainable infrastructure are required.

This presentation will discuss the current status of FRP applications within civil infrastructure, future trends and opportunities for FRP materials within the construction industry. A discussion will also be provided on the role of innovative hybrid structural solutions for new construction.

About the Speaker

Dr Dilum Fernando

Associate Professor at University of Queensland

Dilum Fernando obtained a Bachelor's of Civil Engineering from Monash University in 2005 and  PhD from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2010. He has also worked as a structural design engineer at Connell Wagner (pty) Ltd. From 2004 to 2006, and as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ), Switzerland. Dilum Fernando joined The University of Queensland (UQ) in August 2013 as a lecturer in School of Civil Engineering. He is currently an Associate professor at UQ, and was the Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council funded Future Timber Hub. Dilum Fernando is also the lead inventor of the Double Skin Tubular Arch Bridge, which won the inaugural BERD’FEUP Prize for World Innovation In bridge Engineering. He is also the winner of UQ’s Excellence in Innovation award and was selected as one of the Australia’s 30 Most Innovative Engineers in 2019 by Engineer Australia.