Introduction

Undoubtedly, Structural Analysis is a core discipline in Engineering with a high impact on the society’s comfort, since it supports the design and construction of all infrastructures and pieces of machinery with the required serviceability and safety levels.

On the other hand, it is quite impressive how the technology evolution (mainly since the second half of the XX century) allowed to further explore the methods from Structural Analysis to a level never seen. Nowadays, it is frequent to see world records being achieved in long-span bridges, highest buildings, tunnels’ lengths either underground or sea, among other examples. This fact is due to a perfect marriage between the methods in Structural Analysis and the computational capabilities that the computers nowadays can offer.

In such a context, and taking the most benefit from this perfect marriage, structural problems can become a highly complex task, which they can only be fully tackled with the support of so-called Finite Element software packages. Consequently, the higher is the problem complexity (i.e. the criticality/impact of the structure under analysis in the society, as some examples given above), the higher is the role of fundamental knowledge, know-how, and self-judgment from the expert to understand the obtained results from those software packages. The ability to understand the physics/mechanics behind it, supported by the methods from Structural Analysis is the bottom-line for a successful career as a leading expert in this challenging and exciting field of Engineering.

Objectives

In this context, the course objectives can be organized as follows (bottom-up):

• To review concepts related to theoretical concepts
• To introduce the typical structural schemes in engineering
• To learn and explore fundamental and enhanced methods of analysis
• To perform hand calculations on several practical examples
• To compare the hand calculations with the respective numerical simulations
• To understand the value from the comparison of hand calculations vs. numerical simulations

The course content is mainly theoretical-based focussing on practical applications, i.e. by analysing and calculating several typical structural schemes in Engineering by hand supported by numerical tools (for confirmation). This will allow strengthening the student’s skills on the fundamental theoretical aspects to prepare them to be experts on the analysis of more advanced/unconventional structural schemes.

In a bottom-up approach, the course is set in four modules, starting from the basic concepts towards the analysis of more comprehensive engineering structural systems supported by the Finite Element method:

• – Module 1 – Introduction and typical structural schemes
  1. Loads on structures,
  2. Equilibrium of structures,
  3. Trusses,
  4. Beams and frames,
  5. Cables.

• – Module 2 – Fundamental methods
  1. Influence lines,
  2. Double integration method,
  3. Moment-area method,
  4. Conjugate beam method,
  5. Work-Energy methods.

• – Module 3 – Enhanced methods
  1. Flexibility method,
  2. Stiffness method,
  3. Moment-distribution method.

• – Module 4 – Computational-based methods
  1. Finite Element Method.

The learning method used along the course is based on online resources, available by the virtual Campus, with a clear and straightforward approach. For this, the planned 4 modules (described above), will be based on comprehensive documentation covering theory, practical applications as well as practical exercises to be solved by the students. Hence, the course will be materialized by:

• – Lecture notes and complementary documentation with the theory
• – Recorded lectures explaining the content on the lecture notes
• – Exercises to apply and consolidate the theory
• – Live classes, through videoconferences (webinars), for clarification on the exercises
• – Tutorial support along all course period by email, chat and live webinars to enhance students’ progress.

Helder Sousa

Dr Helder Sousa is an expert, with 17 years of international experience and strong exposure to the industry sector, on Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) applied on Civil Engineering infrastructures and Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, UK.

With core expertise in Civil Engineering (PhD, 2012, http://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/handle/10216/68424), his scientific knowledge spans from (before PhD conclusion) advanced Finite Element Analysis of full-scale structures to (after PhD conclusion) Bayesian statistics and Value of Information theory, mainly single and sequential updating methods, passing through wide experience in tacking big-data streams collected by monitoring systems installed on full-scale bridges. Altogether makes Dr Sousa holding a holistic and singular profile with a comprehensive view and perception on the different levels of science, i.e. fundamental research and applied research.

With 42 conference papers, 15 scientific journal papers, 2 book chapters, more than 35 oral presentations in several countries of Europe and beyond, as well as 4 short-scientific missions at top leading R&D Institutes in Europe (ETH Zurich in Switzerland, TNO R&D institute in Netherlands, CEREMA in France and COWI in Denmark), makes Dr Sousa has one of the leading researchers in his research field.

Awarded with several research grants and consultancy funding, highlighting his Individual Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2015-17, http://www.lostprecon.eu/) and his recent role as the leader of the Innovation Committee of the European COST Action TU1402 – Quantifying the Value of Structural Health Monitoring, as a legal representative of the BRISA Group (2014-19, http://www.cost-tu1402.eu/Action/Innovation-Committee). Currently, he is Guest Editor in the top-ranked scientific journal Structure & Infrastructure Engineering and (co-)leads two special sessions in the next European Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring (Italy, 2020) and in the 13th ASCE Specialty Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Reliability (New York, 2020). His enrolment in scientific committees at the European level and wide experience in acting as a reviewer for national and international science councils is also a clear demonstration of his leadership and independence skills.

In the context of this course, the following publications on international top-scientific journals in the field of Civil Engineering might be of relevance for interested people:

• – Sousa, H. (2020) “Advanced FE modelling supported by monitoring towards management of large civil infrastructures – The case study of Lezíria Bridge.” Structural Concrete, the official journal of the fib (accepted for publication, 18th March 2020).
• – Sousa, H., A. Rozsas, A. Slobbe and W. Courage (2020). “A novel pro-active approach towards SHM-based bridge management supported by FE analysis and Bayesian methods.” Structure and Infrastructure Engineering 16(2): 233-246. (http://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2019.1649287)
• – Sousa, H., L. O. Santos and M. Chryssanthopoulos (2019). “Quantifying monitoring requirements for predicting creep deformations through Bayesian updating methods.” Structural Safety 76: 40-50. (http://doi.org/10.1016/j.strusafe.2018.06.002)
• – Sousa, H., B. J. A. Costa, A. A. Henriques, J. Bento and J. A. Figueiras (2016). “Assessment of traffic load events and structural effects on road bridges based on strain measurements.” Journal of Civil Engineering and Management 22(4): 457-469. (http://doi.org/10.3846/13923730.2014.897991)
• – Sousa, H., J. Bento and J. Figueiras (2014). “Assessment and Management of Concrete Bridges Supported by Monitoring Data-Based Finite-Element Modeling.” Journal of Bridge Engineering 19(6): 05014002. (http://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000604)

All of our courses are offered 100% online, through our intuitive Virtual Campus. Topics are taught through:

• – Videos
• – Interactive multimedia content
• – Live classes
• – Texts
• – Case studies
• – Evaluation exercises
• – Additional documentation

The content is updated in each new course edition, so that knowledge is acquired around the latest news and state-of-the-art geotechnical engineering technology.

One of the most interesting aspects of our courses is the use of live videoconferences, in which teachers and students interact in a continuous exchange of knowledge and problem solving. In addition to this, students can make use of the platform’s forum, a meeting point where they can interact with teachers and other students.

A tutoring system will also be established by email, which will resolve any possible doubts about the course, and which will serve as a point of connection for students with specific questions on each module.

Students can also download the course documentation, including texts, videos and exercises.

The course Structural Analysis – the fundamentals towards Finite Element Analysis is a comprehensive course and structured on a bottom-up approach, meaning that no special knowledge is required in the subject. Hence, this course might be of interest to (but not limited, of course):

• – Graduated engineers with interest in getting into the subject to towards a postgraduate course in structural engineering,
• – Postgraduate engineers with interest to review concepts and improve skills related to structural analysis methods,
• – Researchers aiming for deep learning on advanced structural analysis towards Finite Element Analysis packages.

At the end of the course, and as accreditation of knowledge acquired and of the technical and practical training, students who correctly complete the corresponding evaluation tests of the geotechnical engineering course will obtain an academic certificate issued by Ingeoexpert. This digital certificate is protected by Blockchain technology, making it unique and tamper-proof, thus enabling companies to verify its authenticity.

It can also be downloaded by students, forwarded by email and shared on social networks, as well as embedded on any website. You can see an example here.

The field of structural analysis is of paramount importance in the context of Engineering. Indeed, it is envisaged that in the XXI century, the structural problems become more and more complex and those with robust skills in the fundamentals of structural analysis will be in a better position in the job market. Taking into account the comprehensive approach of this course, the following job prospects are envisaged, mainly:

• – Expert for design and construction offices,
• – Consultant for bridge owners, insurance companies, professional associations, among others,
• – Advanced structural engineering towards the assessment of the effective behaviour of engineering structures.