"Work hard and be easy to work with"

-Conan O'brien

Hadi Kenarangi, Ph.D., P.E.

R&D Scientist II, MiTek, Inc.

I am a senior R&D Scientist at MiTek Inc. since January 2022. With a strong academic background in scientific disciplines, I lead research projects, design experiments, analyze data, and present findings to teams and partners.

I'm a creative problem-solver who thrives in collaborative environments, working closely with cross-functional teams to develop cutting-edge and efficient solutions in building products and engineering processes. I'm an excellent communicator, able to convey complex scientific concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Overall, I'm a highly motivated and innovative R&D Scientist, bringing a wealth of expertise and knowledge to MiTek Inc. as I help shape the future of the company.

I received my PhD from the University at Buffalo investigating the behavior of composite steel-concrete structural members, first as part of project NCHRP 12-93 focusing on composite bridge single shaft foundations, and second as part of a joint Pankow Foundation / AISC project on composite structural walls for high-rise buildings. This research enhanced knowledge on the mechanics that govern the behavior of the steel-concrete composite structural members under various types of loading and provided practical solutions and design equations in AASHTO and AISC.

Before joining MiTek, I worked at Modjeski and Masters, Inc. as a bridge engineer for more than three years. Modjeski and Masters is a highly reputable engineering corporation and is one of the world’s leading bridge engineering firms, with a reputation for technical excellence and innovation that goes beyond current standards. Established more than 125 years ago, the firm is responsible for the design and maintenance of some of the nation’s most recognizable structures. Services include fixed and movable bridge design, inspection and rehabilitation, and all facets of life-cycle maintenance, research and code development. I am also an active member of ASCE and AISC.

Scroll this page down to find a summary of my research background and activities.

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Research Interests:

My research experience and interests span as follows:

Innovative and smart structural systems for bridges and high-rise buildings
Behavior of composite materials in structural systems under extreme events
Large-scale testing of bridge and building components
Infrastructures and lifelines
Seismic behavior of structures and structural control

Post-doctoral research:

Title: Composite Plate Shear Walls/Concrete Filled for High-Rise Buildings

Tags: Innovative structural systems | Composite materials | Large-scale testing | Extreme events

Project CPF 06-16: Seismic and Wind Behavior and Design of Coupled CF-CPSW Core Walls for Steel Buildings (known as SpeedCore)

There is a growing interest in using coupled composite plate shear walls/ concrete-filled (CPSW/CF) for high-rise building construction, particularly to optimize the design for wind and/or seismic load combinations. This test series investigated the inelastic cyclic response of C-Shaped and T-Shaped walls typically used in core-wall structures.

The goal of this collaborative project is “to generate experimental data and numerical models, and lead to design guidelines for individual and coupled CF-CPSW core wall structures as a way to optimize the design and speed the construction schedule of high-rise buildings”, which will lead to improvements in construction cost and schedule. As a post-doctoral research associate, I worked on understanding the mechanics governing the behavior of the C-shaped CF CPSW using finite element modeling and designed two ¼ scale C-shaped and two T-shaped wall specimens and their test-setups. The testing setup incudes utilizing two 440k actuators in an inclined setup to apply large axial loads on the walls during their cyclic lateral testing. I also constructed and tested the C-shape specimens before leaving UB. This project is an exciting avenue of research that is poised to change the way high-rise buildings are constructed. My collaboration with UB is still going on in processing the test results, assisting with the finite element analyses, preparing the reports, and the research publications.

(P.I., Dr. Amit Varma, Purdue University; Co.P.I., Dr. Michel Bruneau, UB)

Ph.D. Research:

Title: Analytical and Experimental Study of the Contribution of Steel Casing to Single Shaft Foundation Flexural and Shear Resistance

Project NCHRP 12-93: Contribution of Steel Casing to Single Shaft Foundation Structural Resistance

This research project was administrated by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) of Transportation Research Board (TRB), sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The goals of NCHRP Project 12-93 were:

to investigate how to account for the contribution of steel casing to the structural resistance of a reinforced concrete single shaft foundation encased in a permanent steel pipe and supporting a single reinforced concrete column at its top, and;
to propose revisions to the AAHSTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and the AASHTO Guide Specifications for LRFD Seismic Bridge Design based on the findings of this study.

My research provided knowledge on this topic by identifying the mechanics that govern the behavior of the RCFST shafts under various types of loading. The research considered the flexural and shear behaviors of RCFSTs under axial and lateral loading in terms of their strength and extreme event limit states. Developing the strength of the steel casing in drilled shafts implies that the shaft will ultimately behave as a composite RCFST, or a non-composite one, but adds strength in both cases when comparing to that of a conventionally designed reinforced concrete shaft.

I conducted analytical studies to investigate various parameters that affect the composite and non-composite behavior of the RCFST shafts. Some of these parameters included the respective contribution of the casing and the reinforced concrete core of the RCFST to its composite strength, the friction coefficient at the interface between the internal surface of the steel casing and outside surface of the concrete core, the reinforcement ratio, the thickness of the steel casing, the height and diameter of the shaft, the axial load, the inclusion of shear transfer mechanisms at the interface of the steel casing and the concrete core, the properties of the attached reinforced concrete column on top of the shaft, the mechanisms of the load transfer from the reinforced concrete column to the RCFST shaft, and the effects of the surrounding soil. Based on the findings of the analytical program, I then conducted two series of tests on large scale specimens, including cyclic tests of six large-scale flexural RCFST shafts cantilevering from reinforced concrete foundations (20-30in. diameter, 20-28ft. high) and seven cyclic shear tests on RCFST shafts (12-16in. diameter). Some of my accomplishments as part of this research program are summarized as having:

Proposed a design method to ensure composite behavior of RCFST shafts embedded in the soil.
Proposed limit states for displacement-based design of RCFST members.
Proposed a design equation for shear strength of composite RCFST members.
Proposed new connection detail for reinforced concrete column into a concrete filled steel tube with no internal reinforcing along the connection zone.
Proposed revisions to AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and AASHTO Guide Specifications for LRFD Seismic Bridge Design.

Throughout the research program, progress was reported in several quarterly and interim reports submitted to a NCHRP 12‑93 project panel of 12 geotechnical and structural engineers from academia, Department of Transportations (DOTs), and practice. The final report has been published by the national academies press and is available online. The outcomes of this research have been cast into several research papers that have been published in or submitted to refereed journals.

(P.I., Dr. Michel Bruneau, UB)

Implementations in AASHTO:

My PhD research has resulted in improvements to the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications (9th Edition). Namely Sections 6.9.6, 6.12.3, and 6.9.6 have adopted the outcomes of the research. This includes a brand new shear strength equation for the circular composite concrete-filled steel tubes (CFSTs).

Graduate Research:

Seismic Hazard Analysis and Vulnerability Assessment of City of Tehran Gas Pipeline Network

Tags: Infrastructures and lifelines | Large-scale testings | Extreme events | Retrofit of lifelines

This project included an extensive study on the vulnerability of the 240psi and 60psi gas pipeline network of Tehran. It also included an experimental and numerical research on the behavior of buried steel and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes under reverse and normal faulting. A retrofit scheme was proposed based on the outcomes of this study. The retrofit options included using flexible pipe joints and changing the soil properties around the pipes (usually loose sand) to reduce the permanent ground displacement effects.

My main contributions to this project were in collaborating with the research team in large-scale testing of buried gas pipelines under reverse faulting, finite element modeling of the gas pipelines subjected to ground faulting using ANSYS, development of a user interface for pre- and post-processing the numerical analyses for the client.

(P.I., Dr. Fayaz R. Rofooei, SUT, Collaborators: Dr. N. K. A. Attari, Dr. H. H. Jalali, Dr. Z. Waezi)

M.Sc. Research:

Investigating the Performance of Tuned Mass Dampers in Controlling the Nonlinear Behavior of 3D Structural Models Considering Soil-Structure Interaction

Tags: Passive control of structures | Extreme events | Soil-Structure Interaction

Project: On the Optimal Placement of TMDs in Nonlinear Seismic Response Reduction of 3D Structural Models

Reducing the seismic response of structures under dynamic loads has been extensively considered by many researchers in the past few decades. Among them, Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) have been studied extensively and used as a mean to control the response of structures under earthquake and wind loadings. In the majority of these studies, it is assumed that the structural models are located on rigid base and only their linear response has been considered. Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) and nonlinear response of structures could have significant effect on the dynamic characteristics of structures that could result in de-tuning of the TMDs.

In this study, a number of 3D nonlinear steel structural models with various number of floors and different levels of eccentricities were considered to investigate the performance of TMDs in controlling the seismic response of nonlinear buildings taking into account the SSI effects. The passive control system consisting of TMDs with optimal parameters were considered on the roof of the buildings along two orthogonal directions. A discrete model based on the concept of Cone Models was used for modeling the effects of SSI. Also, the shear wave velocity of soil was varied from 100m/s to very large values to represent different soil types. The structural models were excited by a number of bi-directional horizontal ground motions according to the soil type.

This study consisted of two major parts, which the first one was about searching for optimum location of TMDs in the plan of the building. The second part was focused on investigating the effect of SSI on the performance of TMDs.

Story shear forces and drift ratios were considered as a measure for comparison. The OpenSees software was used for the nonlinear response history analyses. Results showed that the nonlinear response and SSI have a decreasing effect on the performance of TMDs and this effect amplifies as the shear wave velocity of underlying soil decreases.

Publications:

List_of_publications.pdf

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