SAFER Group@IITH

The Structural And Fire Engineering Research group (SAFER) at IIT Hyderabad develops analysis techniques and provides design solutions for structural systems under extreme loading conditions, such as fire, blast, earthquake, and wind load. Our research has a special emphasis on the development of innovative and lightweight structural solutions for specialized needs. Some of the recent projects that this group is involved with are listed here. Here are some of the research areas our group has been working on lately.

  • Modeling and design of structural members in fire conditions

  • Steel-concrete composite systems (CFT) for extreme loading conditions

  • Use of existing telecom towers for the harvesting of wind power

  • Pultruded FRP members for infrastructure needs

  • Composite materials for strengthening and fire protection applications

StruCtural Fire Simulations

The SAFER Lab dabbles in the simulation and designing of steel, concrete, and steel-concrete composites in fire and other extreme loading conditions. The work includes numerical simulation as well as testing.

StruCtural Fire Testing

The SAFER Lab can test structural members and sub-assemblies tested at up to 1200 C temperature following the standard fire curves.

CFRP Bridge Design, development, and Testing

SAFER lab members co-designed, tested, and certified the performance of a lightweight CFRP pedestrian bridge for GRSE. The 300 kg bridge can support the weight of a one-ton vehicle.

FRP Member Testing

Testing of fiber-reinforced composite (FRP) members is a major challenge due to the brittle behavior of the members. The SAFER lab at IIT Hyderabad has developed the test facilities to study the behavior under different loading conditions of such elements until failure. These tests are used to design and optimize the performance of modern lightweight structures.

Cup-Lock scaffolding Testing

The SAFER Lab at IIT Hyderabad has the capabilities for testing tall scaffoldings under realistic loading conditions.

Elastomeric Bearing evaluation

Elastomeric bearings used in Railways and Highway bridges need to be tested for compression and shear testing. SAFER lab at IIT Hyderabad tests and studies the behavior of elastomeric bearings under a variety of loading conditions.

Pseudo dynamic Testing

The SAFER Lab at IIT Hyderabad has the capabilities of conducting pseudo-dynamic tests that can simulate earthquake loading and other dynamic tests.

Quasi-Static Earthquake testing

The SAFER Lab at IIT Hyderabad has established the capabilities of testing structural members under earthquake loading conditions. This picture presents the testing set up for earthquake loading of an RC column.

Digital Image correlation

The SAFER Lab at IIT Hyderabad has state-of-the-art 3-D digital image correlation capabilities to capture displacement and strain fields.

On-site testing

We have the ability to load test structures on-site and evaluate the performance under service load conditions.

Forensic Investigation

The SAFER Lab takes up forensic investigations of failure/collapse of structural systems and provides specialized inputs for restoration and repair.

CFT columns in fire

CFT columns offer excellent fire resistance. Their behavior under all-around heating and three-sided heating is studied using a state-of-the-art test facility at the SAFER lab at IIT Hyderabad.