Feature Article CSIR IN THE SERVICE OF THE NATION

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERINGRESEARCH CENTRE

From the housing & construction industry to therailways, from power stations to military installationsand even the Indian base in Antarctica, the impact ofSERC s ground-breaking studies and research hasbeen truly widespread and phenomenal.

WHEN buildings and struc-tures topple over, the lossis not just monetary, it isoften accompanied with

a heavy loss of life too. This is especiallytrue of areas that are prone toearthquakes or cyclones. It is thesedisturbing images that have motivatedscientists of the Structural EngineeringResearch Centre (SERC) based inChennai to come up with innumerabletechnologies and constructiontechniques that have added to thestability of buildings and structures allover the country-

SERC's Vision• SERC will act as a clearing house forthe latest available knowledge and developknow-how on design and construction ofall types of structures.• It will undertake application-orientedresearch in all aspects of structuralengineering - both design andconstruction, including rehabilitation ofstructures.• It will provide design consultancyservices, including proof checking, toorganisations in the public and privatesectors for developing a variety ofstructural designs.• SERC will organize specializedcourses on structural engineering for thebenefit of practising engineers tofamiliarize them with the latestdevelopments in analysis, design andconstruction.

In fact, the specialaerodynamically-shaped cycloneshelters built in coastal Orissa, basedon SERC's design, have been acclaimedby the Red Cross. The 23 cycloneshelters, each accommodating about2000 people, saved around 45,000 peopleduring the Orissa supercyclone inOctober 1999.

A constituent laboratory of theCouncil of Scientific & IndustrialResearch (CSIR), SERC's R&D efforts arefocused on development of improvedanalysis, design and constructiontechniques for different types of complexstructures such as shell roofs,transmission lines and microwavetowers and other tower-like structures,ships, offshore structures and machinefoundations. Interestingly, the roof ofthe Parliament Library building in NewDelhi has a series of low profile bubbledomes sitting on fibre reinforced highperformance concrete based on SERCdesign.

A number of time and cost savingprecast construction techniques andproducts have been developed by theCentre. High strength deformed bars,funicular shells, fibre reinforcedconcrete manhole covers, ferrocementwater tanks, service core units, etc.,developed by the Centre have beenextensively used in many organizationsin the country. Over the years, severalgeneral purpose computer softwarepackages have also been developed for

computer-aided analysis, design anddrafting of various structures andstructural components.

InitiationThe story of SERC, established in 1965at Roorkee, unfolds with creditableachievements even in its very first yearof functioning. Shri G. Pande, Vice-Chancellor, University of Roorkee &Chairman Executive Council, SERC inhis foreword to SERC's first AnnualReport brought out in April 1966 wrotethus: "Structural Engineering ResearchCentre is making very rapid strides toestablish itself as one of the majorcentres of Civil Engineering Researchin this country and abroad..."

Within one year of itsestablishment SERC had alreadyorganized and conducted advancedcourses on "The rigorous analysis oftransmission line towers using digitalcomputers", for the University ofRoorkee and "Digital computationapplied to structural analysis" forDefence authorities; carried outsuccessful investigation on constructionof a prototype two-storeyed structureinvolving use of lift slabs; constructeda braced dome of 12.2m diameter inaluminum; standardized prestressedbridge decks for spans measuring from73 to 36 m for the Indian RoadsCongress, and brought out a"Handbook on Ultimate LoadDesign".

SCIENCE REPORTER, September 2008 19

CED Documentation is for your personal reference and study only

The Science Reporter, 01 Sep 2008

J14

Experimental Facilities

• Heavy Testing Laboratory (HTL)with a heavy duty f loor for testingprototype structures.

• Experimental Mechanics! Laboratory (EML) with equipment for

techniques such as photoeiasticity laserholography, speckle interferometry, MoireFringes, and strain measurement.

• Construct ion Engineering! Laboratory (CEL) with an outdoor

casting yard, preiensiomng bed and a widerange of non-destructive testingequipment.

• Concrete Compositesaboratory (CCL) with a chemical

laboratory, concrete testing equipment,computer-control led servo-hydraulicUniversal Testing Machine (2500 kN).

• Fatigue Testing Laboratory(FTL) with servo-controlled electro-hydraulic actuators and on-line testingfacilities.

• Tower Testing and ResearchStation (TTRS) for testing towers upto aheight of 65m and a base of 22.5 m x22.5m using electro-hydraulic servosystem with facilities for multipoint-synchronous loading.

• Wind Engineering Laboratory(WEL) with a boundary layer wind tunnelof test section 1.8m x 2.5m to generatewind speeds up to 55 m/sec and a mobilelaboratory for field measurements andexperimentation.

Advanced Seismic Testing and

i Research Laboratory (A-StaR Lab)

consisting of three major facilities: a) Two

shake table systems i) 30t capacity, 4m x

4m, tri-axial shake table facility ii) 5t

capacity, 2m x 2m, tri-axial shake table

facility; b) Pseudo-dynamic test facility

housed in a box-shaped reaction well and

Heavy-duty test floor for static and cyclic

loading applications.

The regional Centre at Madrasbecame a full fledged Nationallaboratory in 1980. Today, it hasblossomed into an advanced and uniquecentre for state-of-the-art R&D in thefield of Structural Engineering in India,and has earned international acclaim inseveral frontier areas of structuralengineering. Besides pursuing in-houseR&D in thrust areas of relevance to theprofessional practice and to the nation,the Centre undertakes contract R&D inthe form of sponsored, grant-in-aid andcollaborative research projects inpartnership with governmental, publicsector and private sector organizationsuser agencies, including internationalcollaboration at the cutting edge.

AchievementsThe first couple of decades of existencewitnessed SERC making landmarkcontribution to the building industryin India by developing many products/processes and techniques for buildingconstruction and structuralengineering.

SERC has also built up considerableexpertise in the area of computer-aidedanalysis and design of structures andstructural elements and also indevelopment of software for generaluse as well as for special applications.The centre has been in the forefront ofdevelopment of software for structuralengineering applications and itspropagation to various user groups indifferent Government departments,public and private sector organizationsand academic institutions by leasing ofsoftware packages and undertakingspecific software development projects.

Using the advanced facilities, andknowledge and expertise of itscommitted scientists, SERC hassuccessfully completed manysponsored, grant-in aid and consultancyprojects referred to it by variousinstitutions of the Department ofAtomic Energy, the power sector,Defence Research Establishment,Central and State Public WorkDepartments, public and private sectorundertakings and a host of otherinstitutions. While some of the mostsignificant achievements of SERC have

been encapsulated in Figure 1, some ofthe projects undertaken by the Instituteare mentioned below7.

• Passive seismic response controlusing devices made from ShapeMemory Alloys.• Condition assessment of jetty andintake structures.• Experimental and theoreticalinvestigations on the behaviour ofbuildings under acoustic loads due tosatellite launch.• Fatigue/fracture behaviour ofstraight carbon steel pipes and elbowshaving through-wall crack and surfacecrack.• Seismic soil-structure interactionanalysis of a concrete island withbuilt-up structures.• Investigation on windcharacteristics and other site-specificparameters by intensive meteorologicalmeasurement.• Structural assessment of Maitribuilding at Antarctica.• Development of a 500 kW, low costhorizontal axis wind turbine.• Analysis, design and evaluation oflaced reinforced storage building(IGLOO) including softwaredevelopment.• Investigations of the in-service gaspipeline crossing across 'River Mindola'for operational safety.• Wind Tunnel testing on aeroelasticmodel of natural draught coolingtowers, chimneys and tall buildings.• Interactive computer software foranalysis and design of ships and shipstructures.• Fatigue Strength evaluation of two-tier locomotive engine bolts for the GETransportation Systems, USA.• Fatigue Strength Evaluation ofComplete Air Suspension System forTELCO Passenger Vehicle.• Analysis and design ofsuperstructure of navigational span ofPamban Railway Bridge.• Condition Assessment of Units VII& VIII of Kothagudam Thermal Powerstation.

High strength deformed bars, funicular shells, fibre reinforced concrete manhole covers, ferrocementwater tanks, service core units, etc., developed by the Centre have been extensively used in manyorganizations in the country2 0 SCIENCE REPORTER. September 2008

? Article

AN ISO 9001-2000 CERTIFIED INSTITUTION

ACHIEVEMENTS OF SERCTHE FIRST DECADE

ColdWorked Deformed Bars

Cold Worked Deformed bars

Ultimate Strength Design Hand Book(1966)Construction of Heavy Duty TestFloor (1968)Structural Use of Fly Ash inPrefabricated Channel SlabConstruction (1972)Journal of Structural Engineering(1973)Prefabricated Industrialised Construction (1974)Handbook ofMachineFoundations(1974)FerrocementGrain StorageBins, WaterTanks, ServiceCore Units,and otherProducts (1974-continuing)Un-reinforcedFunicular BrickShell Roof (12.5 m x 12.5 m) (1969)Mono Block Prestressed Concrete Railway Sleepers (1970-78)Model and Prototype Testing of Concrete PressureVessels (1971-79)

Prefabricated industrialised construction

THE THIRD DECADEPile Dynamics (1985)Seismic Qualification Testing of industrial components (1985)Laced Reinforced Concrete construction techniques forblast resistant design of structures (1987-1994)Blast Pen Structure in Steel (1989)Fatigue Testing and Evaluation (1989-continuing)Non-Linear analysis for Reinforced Concrete Shells(1990-continuing)Parallel Processing for solving complex and large sizedstructural engineering problems (1990-continuing)Standardization of test procedures for evaluation of corrosiondamage in concrete structures (1991-continuing)Full-Scale Dynamic Testing ofTurbo Generator Pedestal

Setting up of world classAtmospheric Boundary LayerWind Tunnel Test Facility andWind Tunnel Tests on modelsof buildings and structures(1992-continuing)Risk and Vulnerability Analysis orNatural Disaster Mitigation includingearthquakes and cyclonesusing Expert Systems andArtificial Neural Network andStochastic Finite ElementAnalysis (1992-continuing)Lowering of In-service Gas Pipeline (1994)Aerodynamically shaped Cyclone Shelters (1997)

The sites where SERC's software packages have beenimplemented and consultancy services utilized

Light beacon tower

Low Cost Housing Technologies (1975)Rehabilitation of Fire Damaged Buildings (1975-continuing)Health Assessment, Repair and Rehabilitation of Buildings andStructures (1975-continuing)Fibre Reinforced Concrete Manhole Covers (1977)Engineering of Structures for cyclone disaster

Experimental facilities for three-dimensional Photo-elasticity,Moire-technique, Laser Holography etc., for testing of models(1978-continuing)Funicular Shells and Moveable Form Work (1979)Space Grid Roof (1979)Special Purpose Software - OSTA,CODES, FINEART, etc.(1981-continuing)Setting up of Tower Testingand Research Facility andTesting of Transmission lineTowers (1982-continuing)Licensing of Analysis andDesign Software to spread themessage of use of computersfor structural design amongCivil Engineering Community(1984)Use of Polymer ImpregnatedFerrocement Panels with StainlessSteel Bolts for Light BeaconTowers (1984)

Cyclone shelter built in coastalOrissa with SERC's design

Development of Bubble Shaped Dome for ParliamentLibrary Building in Fibre Reinforced High PerformanceConcrete (2001)Controlled Blasting for Blast Foundation (2002)Fibre Optic Sensors in CivilEngineering Applications (2002)Development of Support Towers forWind Energy Generators (2003)Teaching Manual for SteelStructures (2004)Seismic Base isolation, anddevelopment of Passive EnergyDissipation Devices (2004)High Performance Concretes (HVFC,HPC, SCC) (2004)Contribution to SARAS' (small 14-seater transport aircraft) project (2005)Full Scale Testing of Railway Bridge(2005)Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of

multistoreyed RC buildings (2005) Pamban rail bridgeSetting up of world class AdvancedSeismic Testing and Research Laboratory (2007)Analysis and design of superstructure of Navigational Span ofPamban Railway Bridge (2007)Remote health monitoring scheme forcivil engineering structures (2007)

Finite element model of wing bottom skin panel (SARAS)

SCIENCE REPORTER, September 2008 2 1

SERC Campus

Men behind theAchievementsSERC has been singularly fortunate inhaving been led all the way in to itsfifth decade of successful march forwardby several illustrious Directors.

The Founder-Director of theStructural Engineering Research Centreat Roorkee, along with the RegionalCentre at Madras was Prof. G.S.Ramaswamy (965-1976). His crowningachievement was the development ofCold Worked Deformed Bar (GripBar)—an essential component forreinforcement of cement concrete—which won for SERC FICCI's ImportSubstitution Award and also earnedconsiderable royalty for CSIR fromlicensing of the technology. Aninternational expert in the design of un-reinforced Funicular Brick Shell Roof,Dr Ramaswamy led the pioneeringwork on Prefabricated IndustrialisedConstruction. During his time, theJournal of Structural Engineering (JoSE)was born as an exclusive journal forstructural engineering in India.

Next came, Dr. M. Ramaiah (1976-1990) whose brilliant leadership steeredthe setting up of the world class TowerTesting and Research Facility (TTRS)with UNDP assistance. During hisstewardship, SERC built upExperimental Facilities for three-Dimensional Photoelasticity, Moire-technique, Laser Holography etc., fortesting of models. He encouraged thedevelopment of low cost housingtechnologies. Some of the prominenttechnologies that were successfullylicensed during his time included MonoBlock Prestressed Concrete RailwaySleepers and Fibre Reinforced ConcreteManhole Covers.

Shri N.V. Raman (1990-1995), astructural engineer with a penchant forcomputational techniques, was the nextDirector who spearheaded thedevelopment of Analysis and DesignSoftware when its use was just in itsinfancy in civil engineering. He

provided a leadership role in licensingof software packages to spread themessage of use of computers forstructural design among the civilengineering community. Some of thespecial purpose software developedduring his directorial guidance includeOSTA, CODES, etc. Shri Raman had alsothe gratification to oversee thecompletion of setting up of the FatigueTesting Laboratory and the world classAtmospheric Boundary Layer WindTunnel Test Facility.

The next SERC leader was Dr.T.V.S.R. Appa Rao (1995-2001) whocommencing with his seminal work onModel and Prototype Testing ofConcrete Pressure Vessels, aninvestigation for the Madras AtomicPower Project, exhibited a rare degreeof technical excellence and managerialacumen. An expert in Finite ElementModelling, Dr. Appa Rao providedinspiration for scientists to take upParallel Processing for solving complexand large sized structural engineeringproblems as well as risk andvulnerability analysis using ExpertSystems and Artificial Neural Networkand Stochastic Finite Element Analysis.As Director, he was instrumental inguiding the planning and coordinationfor SERC to obtain ISO 9001Certification. He took great interest andsteered the establishment of the VigyanAuditorium at SERC with infrastructurefor facilitating international leveltechnical programmes.

Dr. N. Lakshmanan (2001-continuing), the present Director is ahighly respected researcher withtremendous experience and notedexpertise in Structural Dynamics. He isan authority on Machine FoundationDesign and Testing. He is credited withsuccessfully leading a team inperforming, for the first time in India,full-scale dynamic testing of TurboGenerator pedestals for Thermal PowerPlants. He has also coordinatedDynamic Testing of Railway Bridgesunder service load conditions. Dr.

A number of time and costsaving precastconstruction techniquesand products have beendeveloped by the Centre.

Lakshmanan led a team that designedthe aerodynamically shaped CycloneShelters which received acclaim fromthe Red Cross authorities. Hedeveloped an innovative technique oflaced reinforced concrete constructionfor blast resistant structures, meetingan important requirement for thedefence and military installations. Hehas also made very significantcontributions to evolving the basicstructural designs of most of theexperimental facilities and buildings ofSERC, notably, the world classAtmospheric Boundary Layer WindTunnel test facility, heavy dutystructures of Tower Testing andResearch Station, and the test floor andreaction walls of the Fatigue TestingLaboratory. Recently, he guided andcoordinated the setting-up of theAdvanced Seismic Testing and ResearchLaboratory.

Accolades• Import Substitution Award forDeveloping Indigenous Know How forthe manufacture of Grip Bars forConcrete Reinforcement, 1967• CSIR Technology Prize for the year1999 in the area of Computer-aidedAnalysis and Design, for thedevelopment of advancedmathematical modelling and numericalsimulation techniques and softwaredevelopment.• CSIR Shield for EngineeringTechnology 2000 for the area of WindEngineering and Cyclone DisasterMitigation.• A.S. Arya-University of RoorkeeDisaster Prevention Award 2000 forsignificant achievements in WindEngineering and Cyclone DisasterMitigation.• ISO-9001 certification in 2001.

For more details, contact: Dr N. Lakshamanan, Di-rector, Structural Engineering Research Centre(SERC), CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600113;E-mail: director@sercm.org; Website:www.sercm.org

2 2 SCIENCE REPORTER, September 2008

<title>Structural engineering research centre</title><keywords>SET3 EST Socialisation</keywords><publication>Science Reporter</publication><pubDate>01/09/2008</pubDate><description>From the housing & construction industry to therailways, from power stations to military installationsand even the Indian base in Antarctica, the impact ofSERC s ground-breaking studies and research hasbeen truly widespread and phenomenal.</description><classif>J14</classif><entrydt>20/10/2008</entrydt>

<sd>RP</sd>