I'd say some hot areas in structural engineering and concrete right now are: 1. Self healing and ductile concrete mix designs 2. Anything related to seismic reinforcing detailing of joints 3. On going health monitoring of structures, particularly bridges, using various sensor technologies. 4. Detailing and analysis of Carbon Fiber Wrap Reinforcing (CFRP) of beams, columns and joints for optimum and economical usage of CFRP. How about CFRP wrapping of unreinforced masonry structures for increased seismic performance? I've not even really heard of anyone doing that, but I'd be curious to see how it performs. 7,418 views • Written 24 Jan, 2014 • Asked to answer by Faranak Partoazar More Answers Below. Related Questions
What are some hot topics for a master's degree thesis in structural engineering, preferably analytic work, using ANSYS software?
What are some good M.Tech thesis topics in structural engineering that are related to the interaction between civil structures and environment...
What are the latest theoretical thesis topics for a master's degree in structural engineering?
What are some thesis topics for structural engineering in west Africa?
What are some thesis topics for structural engineering in physical lab test?
Sumanth Reddy, Cement and concrete fanatic | Armchair physicist | War history junkie | Gradu... Sumanth has 100+ answers in Civil Engineering. I believe it's quite dependent on the university or your guide. Also the laboratory infrastructure and industry projects that your university has governs your thesis topic. Some pointers would be.... 1) Seismic design of high rise structures is quite an interesting area. If you're from an asian
university or plan something in that part of the world, then this is the area for you. CTBUH has a lot of suggestions in that area so follow them up regularly. Practical analysis of effects of wind on high rises, modeling and organization of codal provisions is another interesting aspect to work on. 2) Design methodology is changing from a code based one to a performance based approach so any stride in that area could be of immense potential. --SEI report on Future of Structural Engineering gives an outlook on that 3) If you're looking for something fresh in the market, then you can work on contour grafting (3D-printing). Development of materials, analysis of structural stability of these elements could be of prominence in future. 4) Being a materials enthusiast myself, huge strides are being made in durability of concrete. Shimizu corporation recently claimed that they have developed concrete that is 1000 years durable. Such are the advances in this area, one of my favorite areas to work on. 5) Repair materials, technologies could be a quite interesting field, especially in US because recently its infrastructure was evaluated for a D+ asking for immediate investment for repair and retrofit so there could be some funding for your project also. 6) Sustainability - materials - HVFA. Early age and durability properties of HVFA, developing codal provisions for it could be of interest. 7) Something crazy/pompous - CNT reinforced concretes, graphene modified cements are some of my dream projects. I could go on but these are just what I could think of this time. 3,199 views • Written 27 May, 2014
Quora User Upvoted by Quora User, Structural Engineer There seems to be plenty of useful research to be done on the seismic performance of coldformed/light-gauge steel and components and cladding. If concrete is your thing (it ain't mine) then there's probably some research you could do on Appendix D stuff--for example verifying the code formulas for anchor forces--especially under cyclic seismic loading. As Isaac Getz mentioned there is ongoing research into 'resilient' polymer concretes, and also materials/chemical engineering of less energy intensive cement (that's a little outside the scope of SE though). 3,303 views • Written 25 Jan, 2014
Richard Guy, Richard Guy is a Structural Engineer: worked all over the World. Richard has 60+ answers in Structural Engineering. I think I agree that you could do a thesis on the Seismic effects on multi story concrete buildings. You may remember the famous building in Boston that started settling. The glass curtain walls kept shattering and the building had to be condemmed. It was discovered to be built over an expanding earth fault. You can site the building in Lampoc California that had to be condemmed because a fault line ran through the area. What was pathetic about that particular area was that the Spanish Mission had been wrecked by the same fault in the New Madrid Earthquake of 181112. Yes it is known by only a few that the New Madrid Earthquake did damage as far as California. The developers in Lampoc did not know or care about history so they built their buildings on the same fault line. I show a photo of the fault line in my book. "The Mysterious Receding Seas" Yes I think that good topic for your masters thesis is "Seismic effects on Concrete buildings" I have done forty years of research on such phenomenon so call on me for references if you need and I will gladly oblige. Its a subject dear to my heart but engineers still know nothing about it; they dont care to know, SAD. 1,396 views • Written 8 Apr • Asked to answer by Ahlam Abusafa
Michael Hass, Nearly 20 years of helping produce commercial architecture Michael has 80+ answers in Civil Engineering. With large concrete structures we are always trying to find good ways to put the heat generated by large-mass hydration to good use in an efficient way. How about a chemical additive that can get conrete to "set" immediately (we think about this when we build cast-in-place stairs and vertical traffic becomes limited. Non-destructive mapping of reinforcing? Radar technologies are coming along but they require highly specialized technicians to operate them. 1,250 views • Written 8 Apr • Asked to answer by Ahlam Abusafa
Alan Wang, structural engineer turned software developer Upvoted by Quora User, Structural Engineer Post-tensioning seems to be pretty popular in new structures, perhaps you could look into that. Or maybe how to make concrete more environmentally friendly (if I remember correctly, 7% of carbon emissions are from cement/concrete production). 2,803 views • Written 24 May, 2014
Quora User, California Architect Quora User has 50+ answers in Structural Engineering. You will spend a lot of time on it, so choose something you are really interested in. Think for a few days about that and then run the ideas past your advisor. 2,467 views • Written 24 Jan, 2014
Ayush Singhania, Structural Engineer at Mecon Ltd. If you are interested in materials, I would suggest you to take up a topic regarding concrete as a material, work on something which will reduce the use of cement and new aggregate in concrete. For instance, you can take up use of recycled aggregates, use of fly ash, etc in concrete mix to reduce cement and new aggregate which will help in reduction of carbon footprint and help us built a better world. 122 views • Written 25 Aug • Asked to answer by Eng-Fazal U Rahman Mehrabi Related Questions
What is a good topic for a PhD in structural engineering?
What should a final year undergraduate do improve their chances of being accepted at institutions like University of California Berkeley, Stan...
What are some good thesis topics in mechanical engineering, particularly manufacturing systems?
What are some hot topics in Structural Engineering research?
What are some recent seminar topics in structural engineering?
What are some good thesis topics for a master's in engineering management (mechanical)?
What is a good research topic for a construction management thesis?
On What topics is research going on in structural engineering?
Structural Engineering: Why is an I-beam shaped the way it is?
Structural Engineering: What is the best method to move a 600+ ton steel train bridge in one piece, in a few hours?
Structural Engineering: In the design of multi storey buildings using software, what kind of connection is assumed by the software at the beam column joint?
Structural Engineering: Which truss design has the greatest effective load to cost ratio?
Structural Engineering: What is a "transfer beam" and how does it differ from standard beams in the system?
Structural Engineering: What is done to the foundations of a demolished building?
What are some research topic in civil engineering and in structural engineering?
Related Questions
What are some hot topics for a master's degree thesis in structural engineering, preferably analytic work, using ANSYS sof...
What are some good M.Tech thesis topics in structural engineering that are related to the interaction between civil struct...
What are the latest theoretical thesis topics for a master's degree in structural engineering?
What are some thesis topics for structural engineering in west Africa?
What are some thesis topics for structural engineering in physical lab test?
What is a good topic for a PhD in structural engineering?
What should a final year undergraduate do improve their chances of being accepted at institutions like University of Calif...
What are some good thesis topics in mechanical engineering, particularly manufacturing systems?
What are some hot topics in Structural Engineering research?
What are some recent seminar topics in structural engineering?
Top Stories Read More
