Retrofitting damaged bridge elements with hybrid FRP composites to promote re-use and sustainability

A three and a half year PhD student scholarship is available to work on an industry-related School of Civil Engineering-funded project. The PhD scholarship will be undertaken under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Gravina, the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads(TMR) Chair in Structural Engineering at the University of Queensland.

To address the climate crisis, it is essential that structural engineers work to maximise the potential benefit from the carbon and energy embodied in current structures. To do this we must minimise the structures that are demolished and rebuilt, and instead focus on retrofitting existing structures to increase service life and design capacity.

It is increasingly common practice to retrofit structures using carbon or glass fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) to provide external reinforcement to beams or additional confinement to columns. These types of fibres can however also have very high embodied carbon and embodied energy.

This project aims to improve the sustainability of FRP retrofits applied to reinforced concrete structures by developing new types of hybrid FRP composites that combine more sustainable or recycled fibres with a smaller quantity of high-performance fibres. Research is to be conducted at the material level to develop and quantify the performance of the hybrid FRPs and at the structural element level to quantify the behaviour of the retrofits in practice.

The PhD will work on the retrofit of reinforced concrete bridge piers under monotonic and quasi-static cycling loading and involve components of the fabrication, material characterisation and experimental testing. Numerical modelling will be undertaken to validate the system and to provide a design procedure for engineers and asset owners. The work will quantify the fundamental mechanics controlling the strength, ductility and stiffness; the long-term effects of combined shrinkage and creep, and fatigue; and address durability.

The scholarships are open to domestic Australian students (citizens or permanent residents) or international students.

The successful applicant join the research group of Professor Rebecca Gravina in Structural Engineering. Students have access to state-of-the-art experimental facilities with a fully equipped large structural engineering laboratory and opportunity to interact with a wide range range of other researchers and students. Professor Gravina is the TMR Chair of Structural Engineering in School of Civil Engineering at UQ, the Editor in Chief of Australian Journal of Civil Engineering, Past-President of the ASCE Australia Section, Executive Committee member of International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC) and a chief investigator in the Smartcrete CRC and well connected with the structural engineering industry and academia.

This project is supported by the Research project scholarship.

Learn more about the Research project scholarship.

You must contact the principal supervisor for this project to discuss your interest. You should only complete the online application after you have reached agreement on supervision.

Always make sure you are approaching your potential supervisor in a professional way. We have provided some guidelines for you on how to contact a supervisor.

Your application will be assessed on a competitive basis.

We take into account your:

• previous academic record
• publication record
• honours and awards
• employment history.

A working knowledge of structural analysis and design, strength of materials, computational analysis and mathematical modelling would be of benefit to someone working on this project.

You will demonstrate academic achievement in the field(s) of civil or structural engineering and the potential for scholastic success.

A background or knowledge of experimental design, dynamic analysis and computer/numerical modelling is highly desirable.

Before you apply

Before submitting an application you should:

1. check your eligibility for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
2. prepare your documentation
3. contact Professor Rebecca Gravina (r.gravina@uq.edu.au) to discuss your interest and suitability
4. submit your application by 10 June, 2024 10 June, 2024.

When you apply

You apply for this scholarship when you submit an application for your program. You don’t need to submit a separate scholarship application.

In your application ensure that under the ‘Scholarships and collaborative study’ section you select:

• ‘My higher degree is not collaborative’
• ‘I am applying for, or have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship'
• ‘Other’, then ‘Research Project Scholarship’ and in the ‘Name of scholarship’ field enter BRIDGE PIERS-GRAVINA.

Apply now