Deadline: Check with program
CMEES-Inf-026
Development of a Strategic Design Philosophy for Structural Glass Development of a Strategic Design Philosophy for Structural Glass.
It is an exciting time for engineering innovation to fulfil the grand challenge in reducing fossil fuel dependency in the built environment. The proposed acceleration of regulatory change towards zero carbon new buildings will require new building designs to exploit the use of natural energy for heating/cooling/lightening/ventilating.
The unique combination of transparency, durability, relatively low cost in comparison to materials such as CFRP and the very significant architectural/aesthetic potential of glass should make an attractive "structural" material for roofs/floors/staircases and partitions which are traditionally built using conventional materials. Appropriate use of glass in buildings could significantly reduce our reliance on artificial lighting; solar heat gain could be efficiently harvested for space and water heating. Despite this potential, research on "structural glass" is still in its infancy and more understanding of its fundamental material behaviour, mainly its inherent brittle fracture behaviour which is in contrast to the well understood ductile failure of more conventional construction materials such as steel, is required to accommodate in routine design terms. The lack of practical predictive tools means that glass has not been used as effectively in the construction industry as it might be.
This PhD studentship will be used to develop a strategic design philosophy for "structural glass". The structural performance of currently available laminated "strengthened" glass for a range of applied loads, representing various complex states of stresses which glass may subject in practical structural elements, will be modelled using finite elements. It is proposed that the eigenstrain (misfit strain) technique is used to model the initial stress states present in "strengthened" glass and failure will be characterised using fracture mechanics. The post fracture response of laminated glass panels will be modelled by taking account of the viscoelastic-plastic behaviour of the polymer interlayer and the results may be validated using the high resolution X-ray CT scanning facility available at the University of Southampton.
This PhD research studentship would suit an applicant with a strong background in either: Civil, Structural or Mechanical Engineering, Solid Mechanics and Materials Engineering who can display a passion and enthusiasm towards the application of advanced computational methods. If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Dr Mithila Achintha, Infrastructure research group, Email:Mithila.Achintha@soton.ac.uk, Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 2924.
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