Welcome to the online home of the Fahnestock Research Group within CEE at Illinois. Led by Prof. Larry Fahnestock, and collaborating with colleagues at Illinois and other universities, the group conducts research broadly related to behavior, design and performance of large-scale structural systems. We employ laboratory and field testing in conjunction with analytical and numerical models to illuminate critical aspects of behavior that inform advances in system configurations and design methods, ultimately leading to superior performance that contributes to infrastructure resiliency and sustainability. Research topics span across buildings and bridges, moderate and high seismic design, low and high ductility response, service and extreme load conditions. Current projects are sponsored by the National Science Foundation, American Institute of Steel Construction, Illinois Center for Transportation and Illinois Tollway. This site provides a brief overview of the group activities, so please inquire for more details about anything posted here.
Zhou Selected as Mavis Fellow
Congratulations to Siang (Sunny) Zhou for being selected as one of the Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) for the 2022-2023 academic year! Sunny is co-advised by Prof. Larry Fahnestock and Prof. James LaFave, and she is studying superstructure response and load distribution in skewed steel girder bridges under thermal and traffic loading as part of a project sponsored by the Illinois Center for Transportation.
The MF3 program is designed to prepare Ph.D. students for becoming the next generation of engineering professors through instruction and mentorship in teaching, research and service. This program is made possible by a generous bequest of Frederic T. and Edith F. Mavis. Prof. Mavis received B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois. During his career, he was a Civil Engineering faculty member at several universities and Dean of Engineering at the University of Maryland from 1957 until 1967.
Dorado Receives MS and Enters PhD Program
Congratulations to Ricardo Dorado on receiving his MS in Civil Engineering this past weekend! Ricardo was a Fulbright Fellow during his MS program and he is continuing his research, under the direction of Larry Fahnestock and Jim LaFave, on a project supported by the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT R27-194 “Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Load Distribution in Steel Bridge Superstructures”).
Jim LaFave, Ricardo Dorado and Larry Fahnestock at CEE Graduation Reception (May 2022).
AISC Scholarships and Internships
Shi Admitted to PhD Candidacy
Congratulations to Shitao Shi on passing the structural engineering qualifying exam and being admitted to candidacy in the PhD program! Shitao is studying stability design of steel building systems and his work is contributing to projects funded by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Science Foundation.
Deierlein Delivers Newmark Lecture
This week the structures faculty hosted Prof. Greg Deierlein, Blume Professor of Engineering at Stanford University, as he delivered the Newmark Distinguished Lecture, “Informing Strategies to Promote Earthquake Resilience through Performance-based Simulations.” Thanks to Prof. Deierlein for visiting and giving an excellent talk!
Illinois Structures Faculty, Staff and Students with Prof. Greg Deierlein during his Newmark Lecture Visit (photo by Prof. Bill Spencer via Drone)
2022 NASCC Registration Open
Registration is now open for 2022 NASCC: The Steel Conference, scheduled for Denver from March 23-25. The Steel Conference is the premier educational and networking event for the structural steel industry, bringing together structural engineers, structural steel fabricators, erectors, detailers, and architects. One low registration fee gains you access to all of the technical sessions, the keynote addresses, the T.R. Higgins Lecture, and the exhibitor showcase. Registration for AISC members is $420 beginning today (it increases $15 each week, so be sure to register early!) with discounts available for additional registrants from the same firm.
Sessions range from a focus on design & analysis to business sessions to safety. The event also encompasses the NISD Steel Detailing Conference, QualityCon, the World Steel Bridge Symposium, and the SSRC Annual Stability Conference. You can see the full schedule, along with session descriptions, by visiting aisc.org/nascc. AISC is committed to following all local, state, and national requirements for safely holding the event. You can view the current requirements at denverconvention.com/coronavirus-information. For those who don’t wish to attend in person, we’ll be streaming selected sessions.
Paper on Frame-Spine-FLC Testing at E-Defense
In December 2020 – as part of the NSF-funded project “Collaborative Research: Frame-Spine System with Force-Limiting Connections for Low-Damage Seismic-Resilient Buildings” – researchers from the University of Illinois, Lehigh University, Oregon State University, Kyoto University, Hokkaido University and E-Defense conducted full-scale building earthquake simulations on the shake table at the Hyogo Earthquake Engineering Research Center (E-Defense). The four-story building employed a novel low-damage structural system and the building was furnished with hospital fixtures and equipment to evaluate protection of occupants and building contents. The testing program concluded on December 17 with an earthquake simulation using an input acceleration record from the 1995 Kobe Earthquake (100% JMA Kobe video linked). A paper that provides an overview of the testing program was presented at the 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering:
Fahnestock Invited to SDSS 2022
Larry Fahnestock has been invited to deliver a keynote lecture at the 2022 edition of the International Colloquium on Stability and Ductility of Steel Structures (SDSS 2022), to be held at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, on 14-16 September. The event next year will mark the 50-year anniversary for this series of SDSS colloquia, which was started in Paris, France (1972). The SDSS colloquia series – supported by the Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) and the European Convention for Constructional Steelwork (ECCS) – provides a forum for discussion and dissemination, by researchers and designers, of the most recent advances in theoretical, numerical and experimental research in the field of stability and ductility of steel and composite steel and concrete structures.
Papers on Low-Ductility CBFs
Two new papers on seismic behavior and design of low-ductility concentrically-braced frames are now in print:
Bradley, C.R., Hines, E.M. and Fahnestock, L.A. “Parametric Collapse Performance of Low-Ductility Concentrically Braced Frames with Reserve Capacity,” Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, August 2021, 147 (8): 04021116. dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0003047
Bradley, C.R., Fahnestock, L.A. and Hines, E.M. “Dual System Design for a Low-Ductility Concentrically Braced Frame with a Reserve Moment Frame,” Structures, December 2021, 34: 3315-3328. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2021.09.009
SSRC I-RISE Summit
On October 1, the Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) and the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) will host Day 2 of the Innovations for Research-to-Industry Stability Engagement (I-RISE) Summit. This virtual event is facilitating discussions between industry professionals and steel structural stability researchers about pressing structural stability research needs. On Day 1 (June 18), over 60 researchers and practicing engineers participated in plenary and breakout sessions to develop a set of promising stability research themes based on industry needs. On Day 2, researchers will present research needs statements and project ideas for review and feedback. Subsequently, researchers will refine the project ideas for consideration by funding agencies. The event is open to anyone interested. Contact ssrc@aisc.org to obtain Zoom meeting coordinates.