STRUCTURES AND MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION

The Structures and Materials division in Civil Engineering offers professional engineering services in all areas of structural analysis, design and evaluation, including maintenance and repair of concrete structures. In response to the problems faced in concrete construction, this specialty has developed expertise in testing, evaluation and repair of concrete and steel structures, enabling the department to provide valuable services to local industries. As a responsive institution, the division has strengthened its curricula by developing courses in these demanding areas so that graduates from the CE department are well prepared to meet the challenges of the construction industry. This option is actively involved in research through funded and individual projects on various topics which emphatically address the needs of Saudi Arabia and the other Arabian Gulf States. The Department has made significant contributions towards solutions and a better understanding of the prevailing concrete problems. Several areas of excellence have been developed including: bridge and building engineering; durability and repair of reinforced concrete; computational mechanics including nonlinear finite element modeling; structural dynamics and optimization. The list of clients include SAUDI ARAMCO, SWCC, SCECO, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, the Ministry of Communications, KACST, and others.

 

LABORATORY AND RESEARCH FACILITIES

Concrete Laboratory: equipped with a compressing machine, flexure testing, a permeability equipment, and a humidity chamber, in addition to all the accessories needed for all types of concrete casting and basic testing.

Corrosion Laboratory: equipped with apparatus and test facilities for pressure permeability, corrosion potentials monitoring, corrosion rate assessment, alkali-silica reactivity, chemical attack, resistivity, pore water extraction, heat of hydration, etc.

 

Structural Mechanics Laboratory: equipped with INSTRON, Lloyed computerized testing machines and all accessories for dynamic and static testing facilities with data loggers.

Heavy Testing Laboratory: equipped with a frame and MTS machine of 500 KN capacity for testing large-size member, a creep machine, and others.

 

Nondestructive Testing Laboratory:

equipped with apparatus for corrosion testing, a Schmidt hammer, pulse velocity, cover meter, Loktest,  Capo test, displacement transducers, tiltmeter, chloride tester, coring machines, data loggers, and other accessories.

Photoelasticity Laboratory: equipped with an electronic polariscope, multichannel scanning system, strain gage equipment, and other necessary accessories. The above laboratories are supplemented by several other research accessories such as large-sized chambers to study salt scaling (by spraying), carbonation (at different temperatures and relative humidities), plastic and drying shrinkage cracking (at various ambient conditions of wind, relative humidity and temperature), creep, fatigue, and soon.

 

 

SERVICES AND RESEARCH

Available in the following areas:

SHORT COURSES OFFERED

  • Analysis and Design of Prestressed Concrete
  • Design, Evaluation and Repair of Concrete Bridges
  • Analysis and Design of Highway Bridges
  • Bridge Engineering, Inspection and Maintenance
  • Problems of Concrete Repair
  • Design of Multistory Buildings
  • Earthquake Engineering: Analysis & Design of Structures
  • Protection of Reinforced Concrete Structures
  • Inspection, Assessment and Repair of Concrete Structures
  • Repair and Rehabilitation of Concrete Structures