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.
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.
Liu Passes Prelim
Congratulations to Gaoyu Liu on passing his PhD preliminary exam! Gaoyu is co-advised by Prof. Larry Fahnestock and Prof. James LaFave, and he is studying approach slab response and performance at integral abutment bridges under thermal and traffic loading as part of a project sponsored by the Illinois Tollway. Best wishes to Gaoyu as he continues his research!
2021 AISC Educator Workshop
On August 5, AISC is offering a workshop to help educators enhance steel courses. The session will include teaching tips and resources covering topics like the importance of design, how students learn, how to design a steel course, using hands-on demonstrations to help students visualize behavior, learning outside the classroom, and how AISC teaching aids can enhance your course. Read more and sign up here!
Ahershinge and Dorado Join Bridge Projects
Sanjana Ahershinge and Ricardo Dorado recently joined bridge research projects under the direction of Prof. Fahnestock and Prof. LaFave and supported by the Illinois Center for Transportation. Sanjana (Shri G.S. Institute of Technology and Science) and Ricardo (Universidad Catolica Boliviana “San Pablo”) both earned Bachelor’s degrees in Civil Engineering in 2018 and spent some time in engineering practice before coming to Illinois to pursue Master’s degrees. Sanjana is part of the project ICT R27-225 “Strength and Serviceability of Damaged Steel Girders” and Ricardo is a Fulbright Fellow working on the project ICT R27-194 “Evaluation of Spatial and Temporal Load Distribution in Steel Bridge Superstructures.” Welcome to Sanjana and Ricardo!
Kode Joins Horner & Shifrin
Congratulations to Utkarsh Kode (MS, 2019) for his new position at Horner & Shifrin in St. Louis, Missouri! Utkarsh contributed to several bridge research projects during his graduate studies in CEE at Illinois and is a co-author on the recent paper:
LaFave, J.M., Brambila, G., Kode, U., Liu, G. and Fahnestock, L.A. “Field Behavior of Integral Abutment Bridges under Thermal Loading,” Journal of Bridge Engineering, ASCE, April 2021, 26 (4): 04021013. dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001677
Best wishes to Utkarsh as he begins his professional career in bridge engineering!
NASCC Next Week
NASCC: The Virtual Steel Conference will be held next week, April 12-16, 2021. NASCC includes multiple specialty tracks, including the SSRC Annual Stability Conference, and registration to the entire NASCC is free for students.
On Tuesday (April 13), Larry Fahnestock will be part of an international team presenting the session “A Frame-Spine System with Force-Limiting Connections for Seismic Resilience,” and on Thursday (April 15), Aradhana Agarwal will present her paper “Parametric Evaluation of Multi-Tiered Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frames under Seismic Loading,” in the Stability under Seismic Loading session of the SSRC ASC. Tune in to learn more about these important advances in seismic stability, along with many other great presentations.