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CORE Group member Eloísa Castilho was distinguished by the “EuraSEM – ICEM20 Conference Attendance Award 2023" during the 20th International Conference on Experimental Mechanics (ICEM20), which took place in Porto, on 2-7 July, with the work entitled "Creep in tension and compression at elevated temperature of GFRP laminates produced by vacuum infusion". This award, granted by the European Society for Experimental Mechanics (EuraSEM), recognizes research works that address scientific challenges related to experimental mechanics. We congratulate Eloísa for this achievement.

CORE Group members Inês Rosa, Lourenço Fernandes and João Ramôa Correia were awarded by International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC) during the 11th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE2023), which took place in Rio de Janeiro on 23-26 July 2023. Inês Rosa received the award for the IIFC Best PhD Thesis with the work entitled "Fire behaviour of concrete structures reinforced with GFRP bars" (supervised by the Dr. João Firmo, Prof. João Ramôa Correia and Dr. Mário Arruda). Lourenço Almeida Fernandes, received an honourable mention in the award for the IIFC Best PhD Thesis with the work "Fracture behaviour of pultruded GFRP profiles: application to web-crippling phenomena" (supervised by Prof. Nuno Silvestre and Prof. João Ramôa Correia). João Ramôa Correia received the "IIFC President's Award" in…

CORE Group members João Ramôa Correia, Inês Rosa, Lourenço Almeida Fernandes and João Lazzari attended the 11th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, on 23-26 July. They presented recent works on (i) the European Technical Specification for Composite Structures (CEN/TS 19101: 2022), (ii) the fire behaviour of GFRP-RC structures, (iii) the fracture and web-crippling behaviour of pultruded GFRP profiles, and (iv) the geometrical imperfections and mechanical behaviour of pultruded GFRP stub columns. Inês Rosa and Lourenço Almeida Fernandes were shortlisted for the IIFC Best PhD Thesis Award. The CICE is the official conference of the International Institute for FRP in Construction. Presentations of CORE Group members at CICE: Inês Rosa (left) and João Lazzari (right)

On July 19, CORE Group member André Castelo defended his thesis with the title “Durability of all‐composite civil engineering structures in service conditions. Development of an inspection and diagnosis system”. The thesis was unanimously approved “With Distinction" by a jury composed of Prof. Eduardo Júlio (IST-UL), Prof. José Dinis Silvestre (IST-UL), Prof. José Manuel Sena Cruz (Universisty of Minho), Dr. Maria Paula Rodrigues (LNEC) and Prof. João Ramôa Correia (IST-UL).Supervised by Prof. João Ramôa Correia (CORE Group), Dr. Susana Cabral Fonseca (LNEC) and Prof. Jorge de Brito (IST-UL), André carried out a comprehensive study on the durability of all-composite structures. In the first part of the thesis, he developed an inspection, diagnosis, and rehabilitation system for composite structures. In the second part, André performed an experimental study to evaluate the…

On June 28, Dr. Andrejs Krauklis (Latvia University) gave a Pizza seminar at Técnico with the title “Modelling Toolbox for Predicting Long-Term Performance of FRPs under Environmental Aging Conditions”. Dr. Krauklis presented his very interesting research activities about the durability of FRP composites, including various scales of analysis, focusing both on the constituents and the fibre-matrix interface. Seminar at Técnico by Dr. Andrejs Krauklis (28/6/2023)

CORE Group members Inês Rosa and João Firmo attended the fib Symposium 2023 “Building for the future: Durable, Sustainable, Resilient", which took place in Istanbul, on 5-7 June, and presented recent works on the elevated temperature and fire behaviour of GFRP-reinforced concrete structures and on the development of bio-based resins for the pultrusion of CFRP reinforcement strips. Fib international symposium series is among the official symposium of "The International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib)" and covers topics related to concrete and innovative materials, structural performance and design, construction methods and management, and outstanding structures. Inês Rosa (left) and João Firmo (right) presenting at fib Symposium 2023.

On May 24, Prof. Yu Bai gave a Pizza seminar at Técnico on “Structural assembly using pultruded fibre reinforced polymer composites”. Prof. Bai presented very interesting research activities conducted at Monash University, where pultruded FRP composites are used for assembly of large scale structures making use of their material advantages of low weight, high strength and corrosion resistance. Seminar at Técnico by Prof. Yu Bai (24/5/2023)

On the 12th of April the “IV Seminário Internacional de Reforço de Estruturas com Compósitos FRP da S&P”, organized by S&P Clever Reinforcement Ibérica, will take place in Fórum Cultural do Seixal. CORE Group members will present their recent work on the development of bio-based resins for the pultrusion of CFRP reinforcement strips (BioLam project) and on the elevated temperature and fire behaviour of concrete slabs reinforced with prestressed CFRP laminates (FireComposite project).

The former CORE Group member Wallace Maia de Souza, now Assistant Professor at the Universidade Federal do Maranhão (Brazil), was distinguished with “Best Paper Award” (2nd place at the national level, 1st place at the Northeast region) on the occasion of the 63rd National Conference of Concrete, organized by the Brazilian National Institute of Concrete (IBRACON) held Brasilia on October 11-14, 2022, for the following study developed within the CORE Group in the framework of his PhD project: “Experimental analysis of concrete columns reinforced with GFRP bars under monotonic and cyclic lateral loadings”. We congratulate Wallace for this outstanding achievement! More information can be found here: https://portalpadrao.ufma.br/site/noticias/professor-de-engenharia-civil-conquista-premio-de-melhor-artigo-do-nordeste-e-segundo-melhor-do-brasil-no-63deg-cbc (image credit: link above)

On November 14, CORE Group member David Martins defended his thesis titled “Monotonic, cyclic and seismic behaviour of pultruded structures: from connections to full-scale frames”. The thesis was unanimously approved “With Distinction and Honour” - i.e., maximum grade available - by a jury composed of Prof. Eduardo Júlio (IST-UL), Prof. Luís Calado (IST-UL), Prof. Francesco Ascione (Università Degli Studi di Salerno), Prof. Tao Yu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Prof. Luís Guerreiro (IST-UL) and Dr. José Gonilha (IST-UL). Dr. David Martins, supervised by Dr. José Gonilha (CORE Group), Prof. João Ramôa Correia (CORE Group), and Prof. Nuno Silvestre (IDMEC), developed a comprehensive study on the mechanical behaviour of GFRP frame structures, focusing on the development of beam-to-column connection technology and their influence in the frames’ structural behaviour. The research was…