Structures in extreme environments

Research in this area aims to understand the safety and resilience of structural materials, particularly in extreme situations, contributing to new and improved methods of assessment, design and construction.

Our research addresses the demands imposed on structures by fires, blast impacts and earthquakes, as well as the long-term durability of structures, machinery and structural materials in a variety of extreme environments. This includes the modelling, measurement and control of the dynamic response of engineering structures, particularly mechanical vibrations.

Understanding of behaviour and model validation is informed by experimentation. Accurate material characterisation underpins advances in resilient and cost-effective infrastructure applications.

The University has a suite of advanced materials research test facilities (including the Henry Royce Institute and bp-ICAM) which are complemented by Department test facilities (including national test facilities for high strain and high temperature environments as members of the UK Collaboratorium for Research in Infrastructure and Cities [UKCRIC]).

Areas of expertise

Our researchers specialise in the following areas of expertise:

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  Dynamics, vibration and earthquake engineering

  Our research focuses on modelling, measurement and control of the dynamic response of diverse engineering structures, from machinery/vehicle vibration to crowd or earthquake-induced vibrations.

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  Structural resilience

  We develop advanced models and design methods to achieve safe, sustainable and resilient structures across a range of environments, from everyday conditions to extreme loads.

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Explore the leading facilities that researchers in our Department work with.