Unit information: Advanced Structural Materials and Design in 2028/29

Please note: Programme and unit information may change as the relevant academic field develops. We may also make changes to the structure of programmes and assessments to improve the student experience.

Unit name Advanced Structural Materials and Design
Unit code CENGM0079
Credit points 20
Level of study M/7
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director Dr. Toumpanaki
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

Advanced Structural Analysis (CENG30010) or equivalent

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one

None

School/department School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Faculty Faculty of Engineering

Unit Information

Why is this unit important?

Students will understand in depth the fundamental principles of the structural behaviour and design criteria of timber, concrete composites, and prestressed concrete structures and review the current technologies available. They will be able to design composite structures and connections accounting for both short- and long-term effects including slip; They will also explore the fundamentals of advanced structural materials to optimise structures and increase their sustainability.

How does this unit fit into your programme of study

Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering concerned with the stability, rigidity and strength of buildings, bridges and other structures. In our Civil Engineering programme, structures are taught across all years of study, including Engineering Science (delivered in Year 1), Methods of Structural Analysis and Structural Materials and Design (in Year 2), Advanced Structural Analysis (in Year 3), as well as several optional M/level units, including this one. Practical applications of Structural Engineering are also embedded in the Design units of the programme.

Your learning on this unit

An overview of content

Topics covered may include:

Timber engineering, including timber-concrete composite structures; Advanced plastic analysis for connections; Prestressed concrete, including applications to structural elements in buildings and bridges; Design with composite materials such as Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRPs).

How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit

Students will be able to design with a variety of structural materials, including sustainable and high-performing structural materials, such as timber, prestressed concrete, and composites (e.g., timber-concrete or steel-concrete composites).

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, successful students will be able to:

  1. design structures made of timber, composite, and prestressed concrete materials;
  2. demonstrate understanding of the design process from conception to construction and participate in this process through practical design examples;
  3. assess the importance of hand calculations in validating outcomes from computer modelling;
  4. incorporate long-term effects and durability into the structural design process;
  5. design connections in timber structures accounting for both serviceability and ultimate limit states.

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, which may include lectures, practical activities supported by drop-in sessions, problem sheets and self-directed exercises.

How you will be assessed

Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):

Students will be expected to carry out some pre-reading ahead of lectures (ran in a flipped classroom mode) and expected to work on a number of real-life design problems individually and in teams. Computer labs will be used to apply the learned theories and methods to solve practical problems.

The computer lab sessions and exercises are carefully designed such that students can build their own computational tools gradually. In the end, students will be able to integrate key model components, which have been developed individually, into a complete methodology for a design.

Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):

Open book examination (100%)

When assessment does not go to plan:

A reassessment retains the same format as the original assessment.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. CENGM0079).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.