Research Interests
Traditional technologies in structural construction appear to be less efficient and economical in both material and labour, and are accompanied sometimes by the massive consumption of energy and natural resources and environmental sacrifice. Dr. Bai’s main research interests are to address this challenge in terms of material selection and design concept and multifunctional integration.
Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have been demonstrated as promising materials in structural construction. Dr. Bai’s recent researches were focused on the FRP structural responses under harsh environments and critical loading conditions. This work is supported by an ARC discovery project and a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Project.
In response to the new materials emerging in structural construction, design concepts should be advanced accordingly. Innovative design concepts were proposed by Dr. Bai to achieve free forming space structures and his recent work researches into the structural stiffness and structural ductility of the proposed structural systems. This work is supported by an ARC DECRA project and a Monash Seed project.
The concept of function integration is to provide a structural component with functions more than load-carrying capacity, where thermal insulation, energy supply, intelligent inspection and self-luminous functions can be integrated into one structural component. As a result, this research area is multidisciplinary. This work is conducted through collaborations with Monash Civil, Mechanical and Chemical Engineering and other universities.
Research Facilities
The-state-of-the art facilities (see Monash Structures Laboratory at http://eng.monash.edu.au/civil/research/centres/structures/lab-equipment.html)
Newly equipped facilities include
Environmental chamber (with loading frame)
Water tank with temperature control Temperature chamber (with loading frame)
Vacuum-assisted infusion
DMA
DSC
Thermal image camera
Lyokogawa illuminance meter...
(for further details or collaborations, please contact Yu.Bai@monash.edu)
Research Grants
ARC Discovery, Investigor: Prof. Xiao-Ling Zhao, Prof. Raman Singh, Dr. Yu Bai, A/Prof. Sri Bandyopadhyay and Prof. Sami Rizkalla. $380k, 2012-2014
ARC Discovery for Early Career Researcher Award, Investigor: Dr. Yu Bai, $375k, 2012-2014
ARC Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF), Investigor: Al-Mahaidi, Wilson, Sanjayan, Gad, Zhao, Uy, Foster, Samali, Haritos, Mahendran, Griffith, Xie, Yang, Fragomeni, Lloyd, Bradford, Gilbert, Lam, Xiang, Dhanasekar, Rolfe, Duffield, Ranjith, Arulrajah, Rangan, Bai, Guerrieri. $870k, 2011
A number of internal supports from Monash, Facaulty of Engineering and Department of Civil Enginnering
