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Dennis Lam

Emeritus Professor

Area
Faculty of Eng & Digital Technologies
E-mail
d.lam1@bradford.ac.uk
Dennis Lam
5 research projects
197 publications
2 awards

Biography

Professor Dennis Lam is an Emeritus Professor and former Chair in Structural Engineering and the Director of Bradford Centre for Sustainable Environments. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He is the President of the Association for International Cooperation and Research in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures. He is also a member of the British Standard Institute B525/ and CEN/T250/SC4 committees responsible for the BS5950 and Eurocode 4. His main research interests are in the area of steel and composite structures, including the use of stainless steel, precast concrete and fibre reinforced polymers.

Visiting Appointments:
TCT Visiting Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2001
JTCC Visiting Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2001
Visiting Senior Lecturer, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2003
Royal Society Visiting Fellow, University of Wollongong, Australia, 2005
Visiting Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 2008 -
Visiting Professor, University of Western Sydney, Australia, 2010
Visiting Professor, University of Leeds, Leeds, 2011
Royal Society Visiting Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 2012
Tsinghua Special Chair Professor, Tsinghua University, China, 2013 -

Editorial Board:
European Editor-in-Chief of Steel and Composite Structures
Editorial Board Member for Journal of Constructional Steel Research
Editorial Board Member for Structures
Editorial Board Member for International Journal of Steel Structures
Editorial Board Member for Journal of Advanced Steel Construction
Editorial Board Member for Journal of Progress in Steel Building Structures
Editorial Board Member for The Open Civil Engineering Journal
Editorial Board Member for The Scientific World Journal: Civil Engineering

Grant Reviewer for Awarding Bodies:
College Member for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
The Institution of Structural Engineers
The Technology Foundation STW, Netherlands
Research Grants Council, Hong Kong
Chang Jiang Scholars Program, The Ministry of Education, China 

Research

His main research interests are in the area of steel structures, steel-concrete composite structures, including the use of stainless steel, precast concrete and fibre reinforced polymers.

Research projects

Role
Principal Investigator

This project has the objective of developing more realistic and more economic shear connection rules for modern long span composite beams, particularly with deeper deck profiles, which can be adopted as future revisions to EN 1994-1-1. A related factor is the amount of transverse reinforcement that is needed to control longitudinal splitting along the line of shear connectors. Membrane effects in floor plates provide a confining effect which can reduce the required amount of reinforcement, particularly for primary beams, but this is not taken into account. The objective is achieved by a test programme that is aimed at answering these practical questions in modern composite construction. The tests will be analysed by advanced numerical models, which will use realistic non–linear material properties, including the declining stress-strain relationship for concrete at high strain and the load –slip relationship of shear connectors. These models will be used to develop new shear connection rules for un-propped beams, highly asymmetric beams, cellular beams and deeper deck profiles not covered by EN1994-1-1.

Role
Principal Investigator

The aim is to increase the competitiveness of steel in buildings by developing an integral and holistic approach for the application of flooring systems with steel slim floor beams, regarding different technical aspects of these solutions as well as lifecycle assessment. By use of new and optimized shear connector systems, the application of the slim floor system will be optimized regarding the erection time and high efficiency as well as reduced input of materials which leads to beneficial effects for the LCA calculation. Concerning the technical quality general design rules for slim floor solutions will be developed. Currently the design approach is ruled by national application of single or manufacturer-specific slim floor solutions. With the development of integral rules, the application rules will be simplified and generalized for slim floor systems. The project will be the first to address the requirements for design of composite slim floor beams and to provide a holistic design approach with planned composite action between the steel profile and the concrete slab, considering all aspects of the technical design. The planned design rules will be based on adaptation of the current design principles and rules of Eurocodes. However specific parametric tests on the structural behaviour will lead to new design rules regarding the specifications of slim floor beam solutions. In addition to the design rules, recommendations and guidelines for practical application of slim floor systems will be developed.

Role
Principal Investigator

The project will provide methodologies, tools and guidance to assist in design for deconstruction, particularly of composite steel structures for multi-storey buildings. This will lead to new shear connection systems for demountable composite construction, based on push tests and beam tests to verify composite action and to develop design rules. The whole life benefits of reusable structures will be quantified using LCA and circular economy indicators. Opportunities for greater standardisation and the use of BIM will be explored to facilitate deconstruction. A demonstration of demountability of the developed system is planned.

Role
Principal Investigator

This project aims to develop a reusable composite floor system to be used in steel/concrete composite structures. It is important that this method of construction is developed as a mainstream structural engineering solution, rather than limited to very special conditions, so as to maximize the benefits of design and construction of reusable structural components at the end of life. The proposed reusable floor system is a totally different form of construction, with new modes of structural behaviour that have not been investigated before. A complete rethink of composite floor structural and fire engineering design is necessary to ensure safety of the proposed floor system. Extensive new physical tests at ambient and elevated temperatures and in fire for the different components of the proposed floor system have been planned to identify the different modes of behaviour and failure of the system. Supplemented by extensive numerical simulations, this project will develop thorough understanding of the structural and fire performance of the new structural system to develop practical design methods. This project will be carried out in collaboration between the Universities of Bradford and Manchester, which have international leading experiences in composite structural behaviour and design at ambient temperature and in fire, and have dedicated and experienced research teams and experimental facilities.

Role
Principal Investigator

REBUILD proposes that materials are directly reused and remanufactured into new builds with minimal re-processing. The project proposes a new circular economy system to address key barriers in the current linear approaches to demolition and new building construction, and build capabilities and tools to create significant new value by the early adoption of novel technologies, high value remanufacture, new system arrangements and the scaling up good practices. The magnitude of the opportunity is considerable. REBUILD starts the process of converting all current building at the end of their first life and future buildings into material and product banks allowing the retention of high value materials and products for future repeat reuse. The cost of transport and storage means that repair, remanufacture and reuse of products to be commercially successful will need to be regional/local scale. To create demand acceptance for re-used products REBUILD testing processes are designed to demonstrate industry standards of quality assurance of technical performance. The project will quantify, measure and evaluate the magnitude of value creation and product re-use for different system configurations and scenarios against a Business as Usual (BAU) reference case. Continual interactions with the industrial stakeholder group, and through their networks the wider construction industry, will make sure that the direction of our project stays close to industrial needs and the outcomes of our research are communicated to the industry in the most effective way.

Professional activities

  • Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK
  • President of Association for International Cooperation and R

  • International Advisory Committee. Member for the Hong Kong Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel,
  • Member of European Committee on Standardisation on Eurocode 4 (CEN/TC 250/SC4) - responsible for Design of Composite Structures in Europe,
  • British Standards Institute Committee Member (B/525/4) - responsible for Design of Composite Structures in the UK,
  • European Standard Committee for Eurocode 4,
  • Technical Committee Member on Composite Construction. American Society of Civil Engineers SEI Committee on Progressive Collapse - American Society of Civil Engineers,

  • FIStructE
  • MASCE
  • MPhil
  • MIMgt
  • BEng
  • PhD
  • CEng
  • MICE

  • Steel and Composite Structures - EDITORCHIEF

  • Grant Reviewer for awarding bodies:: Grant Reviewer for awarding bodies: College Member for Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) The Institution of Structural Engineers The Technology Foundation STW, Netherlands Research Grants Council, Hong Kong Chang Jiang Scholars Program, The Ministry of Education, China

  • Institution of Structural Engineers, Learning Society
  • Association for Steel Concrete Composite Structures (ASCCS), Learning Society
  • Institution of Civil Engineers, Learning Society

Publications

  • Flexural behaviour of composite slim floor beams

    Sheehan, T.; Dai, X.; Yang, J.; Zhou, K.; Lam, D. (2018) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures, ASCCS 2018.

  • Use of bolted shear connectors in composite construction

    Dai, X.; Lam, D.; Sheehan, T.; Yang, J.; Zhou, K. (2018) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures, ASCCS 2018.

  • Experimental study on demountable shear connectors in profiled composite slabs

    Yang, J.; Lam, D.; Dai, X.; Sheehan, T. (2018) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures, ASCCS 2018.

  • Finite element analysis of concrete filled lean duplex stainless steel columns

    Lam, D.; Yang, J.; Dai, X. (2018) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures, ASCCS 2018.

  • Punching shear of concrete flat slabs reinforced with fibre reinforced polymer bars

    Al Ajami A.;Ashour A.;Lam D.;Sheehan T. (2017) Advanced Composites in Construction, ACIC 2017 - Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction., 296-303.

  • Bond performance of helically wrapped GFRP bars in high strength concrete

    Saleh N.;Ashour A.;Lam D.;Sheehan T. (2017) Advanced Composites in Construction, ACIC 2017 - Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction., 344-350.

  • Experimental studies of composite slim floor beams

    Sheehan T.;Lam D.;Dai X. (2017) Composite Construction in Steel and Concrete VIII - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Composite Construction in Steel and Concrete, 2017., 181-193.

  • Bond strength of sand-coated GFRP re-bars in high-strength concrete

    Saleh N.;Ashour A.;Lam D.;Sheehan T. (2017) Advanced Composites in Construction, ACIC 2017 - Proceedings of the 8th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction., 330-336.

  • Experimental study of beam to concrete filled elliptical steel column connections

    Sheehan T.; Yang J.; Dai X.; Lam D. (2015) Tubular Structures - Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Tubular Structures, ISTS 2015., 79-86.

  • Tests of continuous concrete slabs reinforced with carbon fibre reinforced polymer bars

    Mahroug M.;Ashour A.;Lam D. (2013) Advanced Composites in Construction 2013, ACIC 2013 - Conference Proceedings., 275-285.

  • Assessment of column removal time for progressive collapse evaluation of high rise structures

    Stephen O.;Lam D.;Toropov V. (2013) Research and Applications in Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation, SEMC 2013., 699-704.

  • Behaviour of Demountable Shear Connectors in Steel-Concrete Composite Beams

    Lam D.;Dai X.;Saveri E. (2013) Composite Construction in Steel and Concrete VII - Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Composite Construction in Steel and Concrete., 618-631.

  • Shape effect on structural fire behaviour of axially loaded Concrete Filled Tubular (CFT) stub columns

    Dai X.;Lam D. (2012) Tubular Structures XIV - Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Tubular Structures, ISTS 2012., 575-582.

  • Structural behaviour of concrete filled elliptical steel hollow sections

    Lam D.;Dai X.;Jamaluddin N. (2012) 11th International Conference on Steel Space and Composite Structures., 61-76.

  • Finite Element modelling of beam to concrete filled elliptical steel column connections

    Lam D.;Dai X. (2012) Tubular Structures XIV - Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Tubular Structures, ISTS 2012., 289-296.

  • Realistic modeling of high rise structures subjected to progressive collapse

    Stephen D.;Ye J.;Lam D. (2011) Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering Computing.

  • Numerical modelling of concrete-filled stainless steel elliptical hollow sections

    Lam D.;Dai X. (2010) Tubular Structures XIII - Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Tubular Structures., 323-331.

  • Experimental studies of elliptical concrete-filled tube columns

    Jamaluddin N.;Lam D.;Ye J. (2010) Tubular Structures XIII - Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Tubular Structures., 333-340.

  • Finite element modelling of shear connection behaviour in a push test using profiled sheeting

    Qureshi J.;Lam D.;Ye J. (2010) Advances and Trends in Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation, SEMC 2010., 679-682.

  • Introduction

    Georgopoulos C.;Lam D. (2010) Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Civil Engineering. 163