Consulting: Structures and Infrastructure Protection Group

The structures group is highly regarded in the building and construction industry. The group carries out consulting in specialist areas of structural system performance, either through direct consulting, applied research, or as a sub-consultant providing expert advice within a large project.

The group offers specialist consulting services in the following areas:

• Serviceability Assessment of Floor Support Systems
• Condition Assessment of Bridges
• Earthquake Engineering
• Vulnerability of Structures to Blast, Impact and Fire
• High Strength Concrete
• Tall Buildings
• Hydrodynamic Loading Effects on Offshore Structures

Specific contacts for each of the areas listed above are provided with the linked information. For general consulting enquiries please contact:

Assoc Prof Nicholas Haritos
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010 Australia

T: +61 3 8344-6829 
F: +61 3 8344-4616
E: nharitos@unimelb.edu.au

Serviceability Assessment of Floor Support Systems

The structures group has expertise in the modelling and testing of floor support systems subjected to human-induced excitation. Consultancies that the group has carried out include:

• Identification of dynamic characteristics of grandstand support structures
• Evaluation of human-induced vibration response levels in floor systems at various stages of fit-out
• Dynamic performance assessment of novel floor systems under varying levels of live load

Contact

Assoc Prof Nicholas Haritos or Assoc Prof John Wilson

Condition Assessment of Bridges

The structures group offers testing and modelling services for the condition assessment of bridge structures. These include:

• Finite Element Modelling
• Experimental Modal Analysis testing
• Static Testing
• Plastic Collapse/Yield Line Analysis (as applicable)

Contact

Assoc Prof Nicholas Haritos

Earthquake Engineering

The structures group offers world class consulting service in the seismic safety assessment of existing infrastructure as well as the seismic design of new structures. These include:

• seismic performance assessment of building Ssystems
• seismic performance assessment of major highway structures
• seismic performance assessment of reservoir outlet towers
• development of seismic risk assessment models

Contact

Assoc Prof John Wilson or Dr Nelson Lam

Vulnerability of Structures to Blast, Impact and Fire

Advanced Protective Technology for Engineering Structures group (APTES) within the structures group has wide ranging experience in design and analysis of structures subjected to blast, impact and fire. The structures include buildings, bridges, protective barriers, blast walls.

Contact

Assoc Prof Priyan Mendis or Tuan Ngo

High-strength Concrete

Concrete codes around the world (including AS3600-2001) cover only design of normal strength concrete members. The structures group is involved in providing consulting services to many companies involved in design of very high-strength concrete members (up to 150 MPa).

Contact

Assoc Prof Priyan Mendis

Tall Buildings

The structures group has vast experience in design of tall buildings. Areas of expertise include advanced modeling including non-linear finite element analysis, wind and seismic design, axial shortening of columns and design of concrete core structures.

Contact

Assoc Prof Priyan Mendis or Assoc Prof John Wilson

Hydrodynamic Loading Effects on Offshore Structures

The structures group has expertise in environmental loading effects on offshore structures. Examples of consultancies that the group has carried out include:

• assessing the influence of wave runup on large caisson structures
• beacon pile response from wave excitation
• the influence of vessel-induced wave loading on pile structures

Contact

Assoc Prof Nicholas Haritos