Expertise
Professor Hong Guan is an expert in structural engineering and computational mechanics research with special interests in finite element modelling and failure/collapse analysis of concrete structures, bridge deterioration modelling, application of finite element method in dental implant research and structural topology optimisation. Her current research focus is on progressive collapse resistance of concrete flat plate structures and mass timber frame buildings. She is internationally recognised as the world's top 2% scientists based on citations (Elsevier BV) and the world’s top ten most active researchers in disproportionate/progressive collapse research of concrete structures (Scopus).
Assoc/Professor Benoit Gilbert holds a PhD on cold-formed steel structures from the University of Sydney. Before completing his PhD in 2010, he worked more than 3 years in the industry, in Paris, designing offshore platforms. Assoc/Professor Gilbert joined Griffith University in 2010 and teaches Structural engineering. His research interests lie in cold-formed steel structures, timber structures and progressive collapse. He is an Australian Standard committee member for TM-010 "Timber structures and framing" and BD-062 "Steel storage racking". Assoc/Professor Gilbert is experienced in testing a large range of structures from single members to complete systems.
Progressive Collapse Resistance of Reinforced Concrete (RC) Flat Plate Structures
RC flat plate structures are widely used in high-rise buildings worldwide due to their ease of construction, low cost, and aesthetic architectural style. However, they are prone to localised and brittle punching shear failure which may trigger catastrophic progressive collapse of the entire structure causing significant damage and human casualties. Progressive collapse incidents of flat plate structures in recent years (e.g., the US Florida Surfside condominium building collapse in 2021, the Korea Gwangju building collapse in 2021, and the China Changsha building collapse in 2022) have encouraged a surge in research to enhance fundamental understanding of the progressive collapse resistance mechanisms of RC flat plate structures which will contribute to the development of the collapse prevention design guidelines. Several projects are on-going in this area: (1) Dynamic response of substructures subjected to instantaneous column removal; (2) Substructures under joint damage and column removal; (3) Post-tensioned slab-column joints with in-plane constraints; (4) Post-tensioned slab-column joints with high-performance steel fibre reinforced concrete shear heads.
Innovative Composite Systems with Enhanced Resilience to Extreme Loads
Professor Hong Guan and A/Prof Benoit Gilbert are Chief Investigators on a University of Melbourne led ARC Discovery Project (DP210102499) (2021-2023) on "Innovative Composite Systems with Enhanced Resilience to Extreme Loads". This is a collaborative project aimed at developing an innovative structural system that possesses superior structural resilience to extreme loads and progressive collapse using lightweight eco-friendly materials. It will address significant problems in the construction industry, that is environmental impacts and structural resilience under extreme loads to avoid disastrous building collapse, by proposing hybrid sustainable structural systems that can shape the future of the industry. Currently being investigated at Griffith University includes the shear behaviour of innovative timber-steel composites. The capacity, slip stiffness, development of composite action and failure modes will be assessed under a moisture content of 12%. Novel beam-column connections will also be developed to improve the strength, stiffness and ductility of the proposed timber-steel composite system.
ARC Research Hub for Advance Timber for Australia’s Future Built Environment
Professor Hong Guan, Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert, A/Prof Hassan Karampour and Professor Joerg Baumeister (Architecture) are Chief Investigators on a University of Queensland led “ ARC Research Hub for Advance Timber for Australia’s Future Built Environment”, ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hubs (IH220100016) (2023-2027). Professor Guan is also a co-leader for Node 1 on assessing the engineering performance of building components to address multiple building design criteria (fire, durability, vibration, acoustics) for multiple product typologies (long-span floors, wall panels, columns and beams). A/Prof Karampour will lead a project on innovative long-span timber and wood-based hybrid floors for vibration performance and acoustic compliance. A/Prof Gilbert, while on secondment at QDAF, will lead a project in relation to the optimisation of structural, acoustic, dynamic and fire performance of timber-concrete hybrid floor systems for maximum environmental and productivity benefits.
Safety and robustness of tall timber buildings under extreme dynamic events
Professor Hong Guan and Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert are Chief Investigators winning ARC Discovery Project (DP230100460) on “Safety and robustness of tall timber buildings under extreme dynamic events”. This project aims to develop innovative and robust structural connections in tall mass timber buildings under dynamic loads induced by extreme events like earthquakes or progressive collapse. The project outcome will enhance robustness design guidelines for the engineering community, which will contribute to uptake of viable low-cost timber housing solutions in response to population growth and net zero emissions in Australia by 2050. Prof Guan and A/Prof Gilbert’s combined expertise in progressive collapse and timber structures will be complemented by the earthquake engineering and timber building experts A/Prof Minghao Li and Prof Frank Lam from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
Cable-Stayed Footbridge Health Monitoring using Cost-Effective IoT Platform
Modern footbridge design utilises innovative materials and creative architectural concepts to achieve slender and lightweight structures whilst offering aesthetic fulfilment. Despite assured structural safety, the high flexibility of slender footbridges makes them more susceptible to excessive vibrations. For early-warning notification purposes, structural health monitoring ( SHM ) systems are recommended for slender footbridges. Current studies mainly focus on serviceability evaluation of human-structure interaction systems by means of accelerometers, whereas SHM systems or testbeds for continuous vibration-based monitoring of footbridges are still limited, particularly in the design of an easy-to-handle monitoring platform. A real-time SHM system using the LoRa wireless network is therefore proposed to measure the dynamic responses of a cable-stayed footbridge. This system utilizes long range wide area network (LoRaWan) techniques to make each part of the wireless sensor network more accessible with minimized power consumption and maximized signal transmission distance.