Civil Engineering and Construction Management students from GMIT visited the recently constructed Human Biology Building (HBB) in NUI Galway and took part in a load test on a concrete slab with embedded sensors, as part of their GMIT degree studies.

The weight of the students was used to apply a specified load to a concrete walkway, in stages. The concrete floor in HBB is embedded with a number of sensors which allow real-time monitoring of the structural and environmental performance of the concrete floor. The embedded sensors are part of a research project in which Shane Newell, GMIT Dept of Building & Civil Engineering, is using the embedded sensors to study the behaviour of the floor during the manufacture, construction and operational phase of the building.

“The load test is great way for students to develop a greater understanding of structural behaviour and an appreciation of the response of structure to load” noted Mr Newell. “Real-time monitoring offers potential benefits in relation to optimisation of structural components by understanding the actual behaviour of components in use and the possibility to develop and calibrate numerical models that predict structural performance,” he adds.

During the visit Dr Mark Kelly, GMIT Dept of Building & Civil Engineering, also gave students a summary of the research undertaken by GMIT and BAM (contractor for the HBB), which explored opportunities to reduce energy use, water use and waste production during the construction phase of the project.

For further information on Shane Newell’s research project: please email shane.newell@gmit.ie or tel. 091-742880

For information on courses in GMIT’s Dept of Building & Civil Engineering, see:

http://www.gmit.ie/building-civil-engineering/department-building-and-civil-engineering

Pictured above

Stages of load test by GMIT Civil Engineering and Construction Management students on the concrete walkway floor in new Human Biology Building at NUIG, as part of their GMIT degree studies.