Faculty of Civil Engineering

You are invited to the next lecture in the series organised in collaboration with Auburn University in Alabama, USA, which will take place on Thursday, 21 November 2024 from 3.00 PM to 4.00 PM (3.00 PM to 4.0 PM) CET, Gliwice, Poland; (8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, CST, AUBURN, USA).

The seminar entitled ‘Determination of Wind Force Acting on Civil Engineering Structures’ will be conducted by representatives of the Department of Mechanics and Bridges of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology: Agnieszka Padewska-Jurczak, M.Sc., Dawid Cornik, M.Sc., Maciej Wiśniowski, M.Sc. and Piotr Szczepaniak, M.Sc.

The login details for the ZOOM.us Platform will be sent to the chairs of the Faculty of Civil Engineering by email. Interested parties can obtain login details by contacting directly by writing to: malgorzata.lach@polsl.pl

Summary:
In our research work, we deal with the analysis of air flow around simple and complex-shaped civil engineering structures. Due to the lack of reliable guidelines for strength calculations of such structures, we use advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools. In our work, we also use experimental methods. The so-called "wind" Eurocode, PN-EN 1991-1-4, does not cover issues related to wind loads on objects of atypical shape (e.g. water slides), as well as circular cylinders deviated from the direction of the wind velocity or arranged in two or more rows. You can often come across information that "advice from a specialist in the field of wind effects on structures is necessary". We also determined the aerodynamic drag and the horizontal force perpendicular to the aerodynamic drag acting on objects of unusual shape (e.g. water slides). Our research include the analysis of wind load acting on road structures taking into account additional equipment such as: working platforms, boards and accessories. The main goal is to analyse the load on the structure from wind gusts from vehicles passing at different speeds. The risk of material fatigue in the assessment of the structure's effort will be checked. We also carried out analyses of the impact of wind on cooling towers. The aim of the research is also to compare the impact forces of an earthquake and wind.

Research Team - Bio-notes:
Agnieszka Padewska-Jurczak is an Assistant Professor at the Silesian University of Technology in Poland. Her research and teaching primarily focus on civil engineering, solid mechanics and fluid mechanics, including the impact of wind on civil engineering structures: road gantries, water slides, cooling towers. She received her Master’s and PhD in Civil Engineering from the Silesian University of Technology. Dawid Cornik is a PhD candidate in Doctoral School at the Silesian University of Technology in Poland. He earned his MSc from the Silesian University of Technology. His research focusses on the study of cooling towers subjected to earthquakes, in particular on the shaking table. Maciej Wiśniowski is a PhD candidate in Doctoral School at Silesian University of Technology in Poland. He earned his MSc from Silesian University of Technology. His research focusses on the study of cooling towers subjected to wind load using numerical and experimental methods. Piotr Szczepaniak is an Assistant Professor at Silesian University of Technology in Poland. His research and teaching primarily focus on civil engineering, solid mechanics and fluid mechanics. In particular, he is interested in the safety of water slides. He received his Master’s and PhD in Civil Engineering from the Silesian University of Technology.