Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE)

The Functional Performance Research Group was created in 2017 and consists of 8 PHD members. It is mainly dedicated to research in the fields of acoustics and vibrations, heat transfer and sustainability, addressing different topics within each field and concentrating the effort into specific the areas of human comfort in buildings and in the environment, innovative and sustainable material development and functional rehabilitation of the built environment.

The group consists of 25 PhD members (45% faculty and 55% postdocs). Originally centered in historical and masonry structures (HMS), with an established brand, this field still represents about 50% of the group activity. “Historical” refers to existing buildings with cultural value and “masonry” addresses new masonry and earth construction. The group interests are wider, with relevant activity in timber structures, infrastructure management and geotechnical engineering. Emerging areas are waste reuse and the blue economy.

The group consists of 18 PhD members (44% faculty and 56% postdocs). The activity of the SC group of ISISE is oriented towards the conservation of existing concrete constructions, and to the development of innovative solutions for new concrete and composite constructions, by using advanced cement and polymer based materials reinforced with discrete and continuous fibres (fibre reinforced cement composites, FRCC, and fibre reinforced polymers, FRP). This is complemented with the development and implementation of material constitutive models for an integrated FEM-based analysis of these type of constructions.

The group activities focus on steel, timber and composite construction, encompassing all combinations of steel with other materials: concrete, glass, aluminum, timber and polymers. Research is planned and developed according to an integrated, risk-based, sustainability framework with a life-cycle vision (covering all phases, from feasibility, design, construction, operation and dismantling) that addresses safety, functionality and the environment. The SMCT group consisted of 23 PhD members, 35 members without PhD and 8 collaborators. It is noted that PhD members group is exclusively formed by researchers affiliated to the University of Coimbra or associated entities.

It is emphasized that SMCT maintains a holistic approach to constructional applications with respect to steel and timber applications, shown by the number of joint projects, advanced education initiatives and publications. The addition of geotechnical competences linked to offshore applications and environmental aspects complements the competences of ISISE.