The PhD defense of CORE Group member Inês Rosa took place on June 22, where she presented her thesis titled “Fire behaviour of concrete structures reinforced with GFRP bars”. The thesis was unanimously approved “With Distinction and Honour” by a jury composed of Professor Luke Bisby (School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom), Professor João Almeida (IST-UL), Professor Hamzeh Hajiloo (Carleton University, Canada), and Dr. João Pedro Firmo (IST-UL).
Inês developed a comprehensive study about the fire behaviour of RC structures comprising GFRP bars. The research was conducted along three complementary strands, comprising: (i) an extensive experimental campaign performed at different scales of analysis, including the characterization of the bars’ mechanical properties over a wide range of temperatures, their bond behaviour with concrete at elevated temperatures, and the fire resistance of GFRP-RC slabs; (ii) the numerical modelling of the GFRP-concrete bond and the fire behaviour of the GFRP-RC slabs; and (iii) the drafting of fire design recommendations. We congratulate Inês Rosa on receiving the Doctoral degree in Civil Engineering by Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon) and wish her all the best for her future endeavours!
You can find her thesis full text here.