Structures Research
| Current and Recent Research |  |
Monitoring of Crowd Movements in Neyland Stadium:
The effects of dynamic crowd movements during football games on structural
members were monitored during the 1994 season. Measurements were taken after
touchdowns, during raucous singing of Rocky Top, during the wave, and other
activities. For main structural members supporting at least 100 tributary seats,
dynamic crowd activity results in less than a 15% increase in stress. Further
results are in:
Bennett, R.M., and Swensson, K. (1997). "Spectator Live Loads During Football Games." Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 123(11), 1545-1547.
Seismic Behavior of Masonry Infilled Frames:
In-plane, out-of-plane, and combined in-plane and out-of-plane testing was
performed on steel frames with structural clay tile infills. Simple analytical
models were developed for determining the stiffness and capacity of the infills.
The models were verified with shake table testing. Other experimental work was
examined to extend the models to concrete masonry and clay brick masonry in
steel and concrete frames. The models were used to analyze two structures after
the Northridge earthquake.
Flanagan, R.D., and Bennett, R.M. (1999). “Bi-Directional Behavior of Structural Clay Tile Infilled Frames.” Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 125(3), 236-244.
Flanagan, R.D., and Bennett, R.M. (1999). “In-Plane Behavior of Structural Clay Tile Infilled Frames.” Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 125(6), 590-599.
Flanagan, R.D., and Bennett, R.M. (1999). “Arching of Masonry Infilled Frames: Comparison of Analytical Methods.” Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, ASCE, 4(3), 105-110.
The following paper was the winner of the 2002 ASTM Alan H. Yorkdale Award for the best peer-revewied, English-language paper dealing with manufactured masonry units or assemblages of such units.
Flanagan, R.D., and Bennett, R.M. (2001). “In Plane Analysis of Masonry Infill Materials.” Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction, ASCE, 6(4), 176-182.
Evaluation of Pre-1950 Bridges
for National Register Eligibility:
A survey was conducted of pre-1950 beam and slab bridges in the state of Tennessee. The types of bridges found were concrete slab, through girder, deck girder (steel, concrete and timber), and culverts. Simple, continuous and cantilever span types were identified. Tennessee was the home of the first continuous concrete girder bridge and the first prestressed concrete bridge opened to traffic in the United States.
Acceptance Test Specifications and Guidelines for Fiber-Reinforced
Polymeric Bridge Decks:
Model specifications and guidelines are developed for public
agencies involved in the construction of fiber-reinforced polymeric (FRP) bridge
decks. The principal investigator on this project is Dr. Abdul Zurieck at Georgia
Tech Univeristy. Dr. Richard Bennett is performing statistical and probabilistic
analysis in support of this project.
Alqam, M., Bennett, R.M., and Zureick, A-H. (2002). “Three-parameter vs. Two-parameter Weibull Distribution for Pultruded Composite Material Properties.” Composite Structures, 58(4), 497-503.
Alqam, M., Bennett, R.M., and Zureick, A-H. (2004). “Probabilistic Based Design of Concentrically Loaded FRP Compression Members.” Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 130(12), 1914-1920.
Wood and Wood Composites Behavior:
Various projects have been conducted with the Tennessee Forest Products Center.
These include examining the mechanical behavior of oriented strand board (OSB)
and using Near Infrared Spectroscopy to predict mechanical properties of wood.
Andrews, C.K., Winistorfer, P.M., and Bennett, R.M. (2001). “The Influence of Furnish Moisture Content and Press Closure Rate on the Formation of the Vertical Density Profile in Oriented Strandboard.” Forest Products Journal, 51(5), 32-39.
Steidl, C.M., Wang, S., Bennett, R.M., and Winistorfer, P.M. (2003). “Tensile
and Compression Properties Through the Thickness of Oriented Strandboard.” Forest
Products Journal, 53(6), 72-80.