More than 60 percent of bridges and structures have outlived their service life. Things such as carrying more truck acle loads than the bridges and structures are designed for, carrying loads at a higher rate and overall frequency than they are designed for and material aging causes bridges and structures to not be safe enough to be driven on.
Statler College engineers have developed the NextGen Multifunctional Composite System, which can increase load capacity for certain structures by using a simple devise as a quality fix to increase resistance to blasts, earthquakes and hurricanes. If properly field implemented, the NextGen Multifunctional Composite System can save millions of housing structure from collapsing due to wind, blast and seismic forces. It can also save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in terms of retrofit of in-service housing systems.
The NextGen Composite System, which is designed to impact the material,
manufacturing and design markets, utilizes sustainable materials, high-precision
manufacturing techniques, optimized design strategies, cost-effective construction
and rehab techniques and minimally intrusive nondestructive evaluation methods.
Hota GangaRao, the Maurice and JoAnn Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Civil
and Environmental Engineering at WVU, and former doctoral candidate Praveen Majjigapu,
created the three-piece invention consisting of filler modules — wedge-like parts
made to certain specifications — reinforcing dowels and composite materials that
allow buildings and bridges to resist heavier loads while providing a significant
amount of shock absorption as well as moisture and fire resistance.
These new composites technologies are paving the way for numerous structural applications in infrastructure, aerospace, defense, automotive, marine, furniture, recreational and other industries. In addition, these developments/inventions are leading to reduced maintenance while providing pleasing aesthetics both in structural and non-structural applications. Effective utilization of our advances in the fields of military and civil infrastructure, especially in terms of rehabilitation of in-service systems, will not only save lives under extreme events such as earthquakes and hurricanes but also accrue large sums of dollars while enhancing worker productivity.
“Our main objective is to develop some of the new materials that are stronger and lighter than steel. With these materials we are going to be building future bridge structures as well as building systems. We expect them to survive much longer than conventional systems.” — Hota GangaRao
For certain structures, not all, we can increase load capacity by using our simple devise as a quality, yet quick and economical, fix including resistance to blast, earthquakes and hurricanes and even avoid failure when implemented at strategic locations in a given structure with little user interference.
If properly field implemented, it would save millions of housing structure from collapsing due to wind, blast and seismic forces. It will also save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in terms of retrofit of in-service housing systems.
Contact Hota GangaRao for more information.