Ady Aviram's Experimental Study with Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

CEE SEMM Ph.D. candidate, Ady Aviram, under the direction of Professors Bozidar Stojadinovic and Gustavo Parra-Montesinos from the University of Michigan, is working on an experimental study to assess the seismic performance of fiber-reinforced concrete in bridge construction.

Despite the challenges posed by the novel fiber-reinforced concrete mix, the casting of the two 1/4-scale bridge column specimens on February 9, 2009 was successful.

The cyclic bidirectional lateral displacement tests of the columns will be carried out in Davis Hall in the coming weeks. The results will be used to demonstrate that fiber-reinforced concrete columns have better ductility, damage tolerance and are more cost-effective than conventional concrete columns.