The Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering
The Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE) is a research unit funded by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT), incorporating Universities of Coimbra and Minho as hosting institutions.
In 2025, ISISE was evaluated by FCT – the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and graded EXCELLENT.
๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐๐!
Can ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ support faster and more efficient structural design by reducing the need for time-consuming finite element analyses?
This study presents a ๐๐๐ญ๐-๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ for predicting the ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ of built-up cold-formed steelโlightweight concrete composite beams.
The model was trained using ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ and achieved excellent predictive accuracy, while reducing the need for computationally expensive numerical analyses. The work also includes ๐ก๐ฒ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ, and the development of a ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ซ-๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ for practical engineering applications.
This work highlights the growing potential of ๐๐-๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ for the preliminary design of innovative composite structural systems.
๐ Data-driven modelling of bending resistance in built-up cold-formed steel lightweight concrete (CFS-LWC) composite beams using artificial neural networks
๐จโ๐ฌ Authors: Rohola Rahnavard, Adriano Silva de Carvalho, Hรฉlder D. Craveiro and Filip Ljubinkoviฤ
๐ Advances in Engineering Software
๐ 10.1016/j.advengsoft.2026.104273
#ISISE #SMCT #ucoimbra #Dec #fctuc #ArtificialIntelligence #StructuralEngineering #machinelearning #compositestructures #ColdFormedSteel #LightweightConcrete #finiteelementanalysis #ArtificialNeuralNetworks #engineeringsoftware #research #Innovation
๐ข New publication by ISISE researchers!
A new study has been published in Construction and Building Materials:
๐ โDetermining the coefficient of thermal expansion of FRPโconcrete hybrid structural system constituents: Implementation and validation of a strain gaugeโbased methodโ
The work presents and validates a practical methodology for determining the coefficient of thermal expansion of materials used in FRPโconcrete hybrid structural systems. Based on strain-gauge measurements, a low-expansion reference material and dedicated post-processing, the proposed approach offers a robust and cost-effective alternative for structural engineering laboratories.
The methodology was applied to the constituents of a hybrid sandwich panel composed of pultruded GFRP, polyurethane foam and steel fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete. Full-scale experimental testing and numerical analyses confirmed that the material-level properties obtained with the proposed method can successfully reproduce the thermal response of the complete structural system.
๐ฅ Authors: Marco Abreu Filho, Joรฃo M. Pereira, Miguel Azenha and Josรฉ Sena-Cruz
๐ Read the open-access paper:
buff.ly/d3SiJCL
#ISISE #SC #FRP #ARISE #UniversityOfMinho #StructuralEngineering #CompositeMaterials #FRP #Concrete #ThermalBehaviour #ExperimentalResearch #OpenAccess
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๐ Congrats to Cesare Fiorini for completing his PhD!
๐งพ Title: Safety and Enhancement of Resilience of the Built Environment in the Wildland-Urban Interface
๐
Defence date: July 24th, 2026
๐จ๐ปโ๐ Supervisors: Prof. Aldina Santiago (ISISE, Departamento de Engenharia Civil - Universidade de Coimbra) and Researcher Hรฉlder David Silva Craveiro (ISISE, Departamento de Engenharia Civil - Universidade de Coimbra)
โ๏ธ Jury:
โข Prof. Elsa Pastor Ferrer (Barcelona East School of Engineering, Universitat Politรจcnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech, Spain)
โข Prof. Nuno Filipe Ferreira Soares Borges Lopes (Universidade de Aveiro)
โข Prof. Adรฉlia Jesus Nobre Nunes (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra)
โข Prof. Antรณnio Manuel Gameiro Lopes (Faculdade de Ciรชncias e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra)
โข Researcher Hรฉlder David Silva Craveiro (Faculdade de Ciรชncias e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra)
#ISISE #SMCT #EE #ucoimbra #fctuc #Dec #phddefense #SteelandCompositeConstruction #builtenvironment #resilience #wildlandurbaninterface #firesafety #StructuralEngineering #research
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๐๏ธ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐๐ฎ-๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
On 3 July, ๐
๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง๐ค๐จ๐ฏ๐ขฤ represented ISISE at the ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ฅ๐๐๐ฎ-๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, one of Germany's leading events in ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ , held in Fellbach. The event brought together 169 experts from academia and industry to discuss the latest developments in structural steel research, standardisation, and engineering practice.
๐ค Filip presented the lecture:
๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฌ: ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ, ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ
German: โ๐๐๐ค๐ซรผ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐รถ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐: ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง๐ , ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐โ
๐จโ๐ฌ Authors: Luรญs Simรตes da Silva, Filip Ljubinkoviฤ, Joรฃo Pedro Martins and Sara Uszball.
The presentation addressed the ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ, and ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐๐ for curved steel plate elements, contributing to the dissemination of recent research and engineering developments in ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฌ.
๐ค Special thanks to the University of Stuttgart, and particularly to Prof. Ulrike Kuhlmann and Prof. Markus Knobloch, for the kind invitation and the excellent organisation of this prestigious event.
#ISISE #SMCT #UCoimbra #SteelStructures #StructuralEngineering #Eurocode3 #StahlbauKalender #Research #Engineering
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๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ง ๐
๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ!
Last week, ISISE had the pleasure of welcoming 29 participants to the Campus da Universidade de Coimbra na Figueira da Foz for the Training School "Benchmarking and Fatigue Data Analyses" within COST Action FABER.
๐ฌ Over four intensive and inspiring days, participants explored fatigue benchmarking and data analysis through lectures and discussions led by Alfonso Fernandez Canteli and Diego Diaz Salamanca from the Universidad de Oviedo, Spain.
๐ค We would like to thank Jan Papuga, Chair of COST Action FABER, for choosing us as hosts, and all lecturers, participants, and organisers for making this event a success!
โจ A great opportunity for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and strengthening the fatigue research community across Europe.
#COSTAction #COSTAssociation #FABER #Fatigue #Engineering #Research #TrainingSchool #ISISE #UniversityOfCoimbra
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NEW PAPER !
" Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of Dual-Layer Sonic Crystal Scatterers with Embedded Helmholtz Resonators"
Nicolas Herrera-Leon, Paulo Amado-Mendes, Luis Godinho
This research proposes a novel design of a sonic crystal unit cell that integrates multiple mechanisms to achieve broadband frequency attenuation. The design was numerically modeled and experimentally validated to evaluate both the absorbing material used for the scatterers and the embedded Helmholtz resonators. Results show a marked improvement in insertion loss compared with an equivalent rigid configuration, with enhanced performance before and after the band gap.
buff.ly/xVaciUH
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