Materials-oriented integrated design and construction of structures in civil engineering-A review

• Published in: Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering 2022, Vol.16 (1), p.24-44
• Main Authors: MING, Xing, HUANG, John C., LI, Zongjin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Addition polymerization; Arch bridges; Biomimetics; Bridge decks; Cities; Civil Engineering; composites; Construction; Countries; Decision making; Design; digital fabrication; Durability; Earthquake resistance; Engineering; Extrusion; Fiber reinforced plastics; Fiber reinforced polymers; fiber-reinforced concrete; fiber-reinforced polymer; Infrastructure; integrated design and construction; Interdisciplinary aspects; Life cycles; light-weight steel structures; Materials engineering; Materials selection; Philosophy; Polymer matrix composites; Polymers; Regions; Review; Steel bridges; Steel structures; Structural design; Structural engineering; Structural forms; Timber (structural); Weight reduction
• ISSN: 2095-2430; 2095-2449
• DOI: 10.1007/s11709-021-0794-9

Design is a goal-oriented planning activity for creating products, processes, and systems with desired functions through specifications. It is a decision-making exploration: the design outcome may vary greatly depending on the designer's knowledge and philosophy. Integrated design is one type of design philosophy that takes an interdisciplinary and holistic approach. In civil engineering, structural design is such an activity for creating buildings and infrastructures. Recently, structural design in many countries has emphasized a performance-based philosophy that simultaneously considers a structure's safety, durability, serviceability, and sustainability. Consequently, integrated design in civil engineering has become more popular, useful, and important. Material-oriented integrated design and construction of structures (MIDCS) combine materials engineering and structural engineering in the design stage: it fully utilizes the strengths of materials by selecting the most suitable structural forms and construction methodologies. This paper will explore real-world examples of MIDCS, including the realization of MIDCS in timber seismic-resistant structures, masonry arch structures, long-span steel bridges, prefabricated/on-site extruded light-weight steel structures, fiber-reinforced cementitious composites structures, and fiber-reinforced polymer bridge decks. Additionally, advanced material design methods such as bioinspired design and structure construction technology of additive manufacturing are briefly reviewed and discussed to demonstrate how MIDCS can combine materials and structures. A unified strength-durability design theory is also introduced, which is a human-centric, interdisciplinary, and holistic approach to the description and development of any civil infrastructure and includes all processes directly involved in the life cycle of the infrastructure. Finally, this paper lays out future research directions for further development in the field.