UB research on display at international structures in fire conference

Two separate photos side by side. The first is the inside of an industrial-sized furnace connected to a specimen. Coils and wires/connectors are visible. The second is a large clamp with sensors attached to a concrete beam.

Equipment in UB's SEESL lab were critical tools for Elhami-Khorasani and her students' experiments. 

By Peter Murphy

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Earlier this summer, Negar Elhami-Khorasani, associate professor and her PhD student Fernando Szasdi-Bardales, represented the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and the Institute of Bridge Engineering (IBE) during the 13th International Conference on Structures in Fire.

Elhami-Khorasani and Szasdi-Bardales presented ongoing research on post-fire damage assessment of reinforced concrete structures. Szasdi-Bardales presented a recent paper on the damage classification of concrete structures, highlighting the importance of considering the cooling phase of a fire. Elhami-Khorasani’s presentation focused on the results of experiments recently conducted in the University at Buffalo’s Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory (SEESL). These experiments, conducted using the SEESL’s furnace, investigated the post-fire bond strength of steel reinforcing bars and concrete. Elhami-Khorasani’s PhD student Nima Tajik conducted the research, with associate professors Ravi Ranade and Anthony Tessari collaborating. The project is funded by the American Concrete Institute Foundation and IBE.