Project description
Buried flexible steel structures respond to earthquakes
Made of corrugated steel, buried flexible steel (BFS) structures, are an emerging alternative to traditional mid-span bridges and shallow cut-and-cover tunnels in northern, central and eastern Europe. However, their use in seismically active regions is limited. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BE-FLEX-TO-QUAKES project is investigating the dynamic response of BFS structures to earthquakes. The findings will be used to develop simplified design guidelines for their use in seismically active areas of Europe. It will employ centrifuge modelling, field monitoring and finite element studies to identify key soil-structure interactions and validate design models. The goal is safer, cost-effective structures.
Objective
Buried flexible steel (BFS) structures made of corrugated steel have become recently an attractive alternative to conventional mid-span bridges and shallow cut-and-cover tunnels in North, Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, their construction in seismically active regions of Europe is currently practically absent, with little research conducted and no design guidelines provided.
This project aims to provide comprehensive characterisation of the dynamic response of BFS structures to earthquake loading and to derive simplified design guidelines in order to safely introduce the technology of BFS structures in seismically active regions of Europe. To this aim, an integrated methodology of geotechnical centrifuge modelling, field monitoring of an existing BFS structure in a seismic zone and finite element numerical studies is proposed. The state-of-the-art centrifuge studies will allow to identify critical mechanisms of the dynamic soil-structure interaction of BFS structures and, together with unique monitoring data from a real structure, to validate the finite element (FE) numerical models. The FE models will be developed using advanced soil constitutive models and, following validation, will be used to carry out parametric studies, based on which the simplified design guidelines will be derived.
The proposed research will have significant scientific impact (new knowledge), societal impact (safe and sustainable structures in seismic areas of Europe) and economic impact (substantially reduced costs when compared with conventional bridges and tunnels). The Researcher will develop new research skills in centrifuge modelling and structural monitoring as well as transferable skills during the project, thus the employability of the Researcher will be significantly increased.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology civil engineering structural engineering earthquake engineering seismic loading
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology seismology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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30-059 Krakow
Poland
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