ObjectivesThe Structural Engineering postgraduate programme is organised and delivered by the Faculty's own staff, as well as practising engineers from consultancies and local authorities. Students will be able to choose from a rich menu of specialist civil engineering subjects. Apart from the usual full-time mode, there are also part-time options. This programme may also be studied by distance learning. The programme aims to provide graduate engineers with advanced capabilities in the areas of analysis and design in specialised aspects of civil engineering that are in demand in the industry. It is also designed to update the technical skills of practising engineers engaged in the planning, design and construction of civil engineering works and to contribute to the continuing professional development programme of individual engineers. There are five areas of study within the Civil Engineering programme - Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Bridge Engineering, Construction Management, and Water and Environmental Engineering. Four modules are required for a student to gain a Postgraduate Certificate, eight modules for a Postgraduate Diploma, while eight modules and an individual engineering project are required for the MSc. Individual modules can also be taken on a continuing professional development basis.
Entry requirementsTypical entry requirements A good honours degree in civil engineering or equivalent or at least five years' experience and a professional qualification
Academic titleMSc/PGDip/PGCert in Structural Engineering
Course descriptionMSc/PGDip/PGCert in Structural Engineering Module overview
Steel Building Design
Important characteristics of structural steelwork; limit state design of tension, compression, beam and beam-column members; principles of plastic design; analysis and design of single and multi-bay industrial buildings; portal frame stability, sway, snap-through and deflection calculations; analysis and design of welded and bolted connections; design of cold-formed steel elements.
Concrete Building Design
Code requirements for fire safety, robustness, stability and durability; design for flexure, shear, torsion, deflection and crack control in beams and flat slabs; design of short and slender columns; design of foundation rafts and/or piles; structural forms and layout of low- and high-rise reinforced concrete buildings; braced and unbraced frames; analysis of shear walls, cores and tube structures; load combination and moment redistribution.
Space Structures
Description of main types of space structure including grids, domes, towers, radar dishes, membrane structures and cable systems; notable space structures; methods of analysis applicable to space structures; computer-aided analysis of space structures, techniques for efficient generation of data, graphical presentation of results; formex configuration processing; polyhedral and geodesic forms, tensegrity systems, retractable structures; use of material, loading, safety, cladding and foundations.
Structural Safety and Reliability
Theory and application of reliability concepts; component and system reliability methods; application in code calibration and design optimisation; risk-based re-assessment, inspection and maintenance optimisation; whole life planning of structures and optimum strategy optimisation; application case studies (for example, on bridges and offshore structures); benefits from application of these techniques; current developments in this area.
Earthquake Engineering
Geotechnical aspects of earthquake engineering; dynamic analysis of SDOF systems under free and forced vibrations; analysis of generalised SDOF systems; time domain dynamic analysis and earthquake spectra; model analysis; general earthquake design concepts; general EC8 requirements; design of steel buildings according to EC8; design of steel members according to EC8 and EC3.
Structural Mechanics and Finite Elements
Introduction to tensors, invariants, principal values, yield criteria; bending and twisting of symmetric, non-symmetric, solid, open and closed thin-wall beams; plate theory, curvature and twist, bending and twisting moments; compatibility, equilibrium, elasticity, airy stress function, stiffness method, shape functions, numerical integration, variational calculus, matrix notation; beam, shell and solid elements; iso-parametric elements, variational crimes, element tests; modelling, non-linear analysis, use of the Lusas program.
Advanced Composites for Civil Engineering (Spring semester short course)
Mechanics and modelling; rehabilitation of civil engineering structures; new construction; durability and structural health monitoring; case studies, demonstration and laboratory sessions.
Design of Masonry Structures
Introduction to masonry construction; use of Eurocode 6 and the Construction Products Directive; design for vertical, lateral, combined and concentrated loads; reinforced masonry; design of diaphragm and basement walls.
Programme length
12 months full-time, up to 72 months part-time or distance learning