Dr. Mirian Velay-Lizancos received her PhD in Civil Engineering at University of A Coruña (Spain) in June 2016. After finishing her doctoral studies she joined Purdue University as a postdoc (Civil Engineering Department). Since January 2018 she is faculty at Purdue University, Civil Engineering Department. She is currently teaching the course Engineering Materials II. Her research is focused on structural behavior of full-scale components with recycled concrete, self-healing structures, forensic engineering and new eco-materials with TiO 2 nanoparticles and cellulous nanofibers.
Dr. Velay-Lizancos research has been published in top tier scientific journals in Civil Engineering and Materials. She also has over ten peer-reviewed conference proceedings publications and posters. She also has experience in the industry. She has worked as a consultant and field engineer for several construction engineering companies and she worked as PhD in the automotive industry in the New Materials and Climatic Departments. She was awarded with “Iacobus Program Research Fellowship” of European Agency for Territorial Cooperation between Galicia and Northern Portugal and “STSM Fellowship” of Program for European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST).
Talk will be divided in three parts that I like to call “past, present and future” of structural concrete. In the first part (“the past”) I will show how my research can help extract more accurate estimates of the mechanical properties of existing structures by using non-destructive testing (NDT). I found that curing temperature, which had been overlooked before, has a significant effect on the correlations between compressive strength and the NDT results. This finding allowed me to propose a new estimation model, applicable to many different concretes, that is very accurate and improves the results of current models. My discussion about “the present” of concrete will focus on sustainable concrete. I will study how the use of recycled aggregate affects the accuracy of the moment-deflection predictions of theoretical methods and finite element analysis on full-scale beams under flexural and shear loading conditions. I will also discuss the potential use of waste materials and nanoparticles to produce high-performance, sustainable and multifunctional concrete, with particular emphasis in high durability, self-cleaning and photocatalytic properties. I will finish by looking at “the future” of the concrete. I will present my ongoing studies on nanofiber-based materials alternative to concrete, self-healing structures and the challenges of construction outside the Earth.
Amber Samaniego
a2samaniego@ucsd.edu