StruLab

Starting academic year 2020/21 the structural design group in Sapienza began integrating practical lab experience in design courses given to both Architecture and Civil Engineering students. The activity, which required a non minor organizational effort, was met, as expected, with enthusiasm. More information available soon in a paper.

Failure modes in beams

Students of the academic year 2021/22 had to design and construct small beams with prescribed failure mode and minimum load bearing capacity. They mixed concrete, cut and bent bars, assembled cages and finally tested to failure their specimens in the department lab. They realized the difference between design equations and prediction equations.

Capacity design
Beam-column assemblies

Students of the academic year 2022/23 constructed and tested T-joints, designed to fail in flexure in the beam, flexure in the columns and shear in the joint. They mixed concrete, cut and bent bars, assembled cages and finally cyclically tested their specimens in the department lab.  These tests were performed before introducing nonlinear analysis in the seismic design class.


Infilled concrete frames

One student designed and built two portal frames, one bare and the other, identical, infilled with hollow-core clay units. Cyclic tests were performed in both cases, as part of the 150 hours Excellence path for the best students in the Civil Engineering MSc program.