Newsletter - CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre

CSIR - SERC Newsletter

CSIR - SERC Newsletter January–March 2016

IN THIS ISSUE

EDITORIAL TEAM

Business, Knowledge

Management &

Development (BKMD)

Division

CSIR-SERC

· National Science Day

· International Women’s Day

· Workshop/ Training Programme

· General Events

· Technology/ Product/ Process Developed

· Deputation

· Invited Talks

· Honours/ Awards/ Degree Conferments

· Visitors

· Contribution to Industry

· New Facilities

· Appointments/ Promotion/ Transfers

· Retirements

Dignitaries on the dais during

National Science Day celebration

Prof. P. Balaram delivering the

National Science Day lecture

Dignitaries on the dais during

International Women’s Day celebration

National Science Day was celebrated by CSIR-

Structural Engineering Research Centre and

CSIR Madras Complex on 25 February 2016.

Padma Shri and Padma Bushan,

Prof. P. Balaram, Formerly Director, and

currently Professor of Molecular Biophysics,

Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, was the

chief guest and graced the occasion. In his

welcome address Prof. Santosh Kapuria,

Director, CSIR-SERC and Co-ordinating

Director, CMC, extended a hearty welcome to

the Chief Guest. Dr. K. Ravisankar, Chief

Scientist & Advisor (M) introduced the Chief

Guest to the august audience. The chief guest,

Prof. P. Balaram, delivered the National Science

Day Lecture on “Chemical Ecology: A

Discipline at the Border of Chemistry and

Biology”, narrating the interlinkage of biology,

chemistry and the role of communication in the

process. Shri K. Vasudevan, Head, Business,

Knowledge Management and Development

Division, CSIR-SERC, delivered vote of thanks.

CSIR-SERCCSIR-SERCCSIR-SERC

NATIONAL SCIENCE DAY

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

Vol. 31, No. 1 January-March 2016

International Women’s Day was celebrated by

CSIR-SERC and CMC on 10 March 2016. The

function was presided over by Prof. Santosh

Kapuria, Director, CSIR-SERC and Co-

ordinating Director, CMC. He welcomed the

Chief Guest and addressed the gathering. In his

welcome address, Director briefed the history

of women’s day and wished that 50:50 gender

equality should be achieved by 2030.

Dr. P. Chenthamarai Selvam, Senior Principal

Scientist, CSIR-CSIO, introduced the chief

guest. The chief guest, Dr. N. Shalini,

Consultant, Mind Focus & Director, Psychiatric

Services & Research Foundation, Chennai,

delivered the International Women’s Day

lecture on “Psychology & Aging”. Her speech

was encouraging and inspiring to the women

CSIR-SERC CSIR-SERC CSIR-SERC ChennaiChennaiChennai

Newsletter

Participants of Recent Advances in Concrete Technology

Director presenting certificates to the participants

Dr. J. Annie Peter, Chief Scientist, delivering lectureduring training programme

CSIR-SERC ChennaiNewsletter


community. Speaking on the aspects of parenting and

spousing, she mentioned that there is no major difference

between parenting and spousing and put many useful points

in raising up the kids. Dr. T. Hemalatha, Scientist,

CSIR–SERC, delivered the vote of thanks.

problems faced on construction sites’ and Mr. K.

Ramanathan, Director, CMRL, spoke on ‘Construction of

Chennai Metro Rail’.

Volume containing all the lectures was made and distributed

to the participants. The participants visited various testing

facilities and laboratories of CSIR-SERC. Also practical

demonstrations on special concrete mixes and products,

advanced non-destructive testing methods formed part of

the training. Prof. Santosh Kapuria, Director, gave the

valedictory speech and distributed certificates to the

participants. The training program was coordinated by

Dr. J. Annie Peter, Chief Scientist & Head, AML and Dr. B.H.

Bharatkumar, Senior Principal Scientist, AML, CSIR-SERC.

Recent Advances in Concrete Technology

Training program on “Recent Advances in Concrete

Technology” was held from 2 - 5 February 2016 for the

engineers of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) at CSIR-

SERC, Chennai. RVNL is a Special Purpose Vehicle created

to deliver quality and cost-effective designs and

constructions, mobilize financial resources and implement

projects pertaining to strengthening of Golden Quadrilateral

and Port Connectivity. The program was inaugurated by

Prof. Santosh Kapuria, Director, CSIR-SERC. 15 senior level

RVNL engineers from different parts of the country were

trained in the program.

WORKSHOP / TRAINING PROGRAMME

The training included 22 lecture sessions, covering all the

latest advances in the field of concrete, such as fiber

reinforced concrete, self-compacting concrete and

geopolymer concrete, comprising prefabricated systems

and construction technologies. Lecture sessions also

included seismic evaluation of multistoried buildings, wind

loads on buildings and structures, building foundation

design, pre-engineered steel composite building, recent

developments in health monitoring of concrete structures,

etc. Most of the lectures were presented by Senior Scientists

of CSIR-SERC. In addition, an expert from the construction

sector was invited to deliver a lecture on ‘Issues and

Workshop on Geopolymers for Sustainable Eco-friendly

Infrastructures (GeoSEI-2016)

One day Workshop on ‘Geopolymers for Sustainable Eco-

friendly Infrastructures (GeoSEI-2016)’ was held on 23

March 2016 at CSIR-SERC. The workshop was inaugurated

2

Director addressing participants of GeoSEI-2016during inaugural function

Dr. S. Selvi Rajan, Chief Scientist, presentingcertificates to the participants

Participants of GeoSEI-2016

Director addressing the staff during Republic Day function


by the Director, CSIR-SERC. Dr. P. S. Ambily and Shri. S.

Sundar Kumar, Scientists, Advanced Materials Laboratory

(AML), CSIR-SERC were coordinators of the workshop.

Dr. S.S. Amritphale, Chief Scientist, CSIR-AMPRI, Bhopal,

Prof. N.P. Rajamane, Head, CACR, SRM University, Chennai,

and Dr. P. Siva Prasad, Vice President, Research, Kiran

Global Chemicals Ltd, Chennai, delivered lectures on various

topics related to geopolymers. Dr. P. S. Ambily, and Shri. S.

Sundar Kumar, Scientists and Shri. V. Srinivasan, Senior

Scientist, AML, CSIR-SERC delivered lectures related to

geopolymer research being carried out at CSIR-SERC. Prof.

Joseph Davidovits, Geopolymer Institute, France, delivered a

talk on ‘False values on CO Emission for Geopolymer 2

Cement/Concrete Published in Scientific Papers’, through

Video Conference. About 30 Participants from Industries, Air

Force and research scholars from various Universities

attended the Workshop. A demo preparation of user friendly

geopolymer concrete was held at AML, followed by brain

storming session and panel discussion. The workshop was

held as a part of SUSMAS project. The information shared

during the workshop was well received by the participants

and felt that more such programs need to be arranged for the

benefit of researchers and civil engineering community.

GENERAL EVENTS

v Scientists, PGRPE students and AcSIR research

scholars, attended the address by President of India to

Institutes of Higher Learning through video conference

using NKN on 19 January 2016 at CSIR-SERC board

room.

v Republic Day was celebrated on 26 January 2016 at

CSIR-SERC and CMC. Prof. Santosh Kapuria, Director,

CSIR-SERC and Co-ordinating Director, CMC hoisted

the National Flag and delivered the Republic Day

address to staff members.

3



Staff of CSIR-SERC and CMC in the cleanliness drive

Open session on discussion and review of newly formulated

Vision and Policy’ of CSIR-SERC during special RC meeting‘

v Cleanliness drive was undertaken in CSIR-SERC

Campus on 8 February 2016 as part of ‘Swachh Bharat

Abhiyan’

Tree plantation during Swachh Bharat AbhiyanPresentation on ‘Low Hanging Fruits’ project

proposals to the Research Council

v Fortnight Cleanliness Drive under “Swachh Bharat

Abhiyan” was taken up at CSIR-SERC and CMC from 25

February 2016. During the cleanliness drive, intensive

4

Cleanliness drive in the CSIR campus, Chennai

cleaning of sections/ divisions/ buildings was carried

out. Common pathways were extra mopped. Roads,

drains, staircase, verandah, toilets and other areas were

thoroughly cleaned. The Fortnight Cleanliness Drive

ended with tree plantation and special address by

Director.

v The special meeting of the Research Council of CSIR-

SERC was held on 21 March 2016. The meeting was

held in two sessions. The first session - Open Session,

was held at Vigyan Auditorium with the participation of

all the scientists to discuss and review the newly

formulated “Vision and Policy” of CSIR-SERC. In the

second session, the “Low Hanging Fruits” project

proposals were presented to the Research Council. At

the outset, the Chairman and members of Research

Council appreciated the concerted efforts made by

CSIR-SERC to align with the National Initiatives of the


Development of connections for precast concrete

structural walled buildings

Precast concrete structural walled buildings are good

solution for high-rise residential and commercial buildings.

These buildings are made of large precast walls and slabs

that are connected to each other in vertical and horizontal

direction. The precast concrete structural walls should be

load bearing members and should be capable of carrying the

lateral and vertical loads. Precast concrete structures with

load bearing wall panels have merits like: time and

Cyclic test on pre-cast shear wall panel

manpower saving, increased carpet area in thin precast wall

structure, more durability due to superior quality and non-

requirement of brick work infill walls and plastering on

precast walls.

Structural behaviour of precast concrete structural walled

buildings is different from RC framed structures. Precast

floor units should be properly joined together to act as rigid

diaphragm and to distribute lateral loads. Overall structural

behaviour depends on horizontal connection between

structural wall panels, vertical connection between

structural walls and connection between floor slabs and wall

panels. Horizontal joints have to transmit both vertical loads

and lateral loads and vertical joints can be designed to, not to

transfer shear loads. Horizontal joints can be made with

grouted corrugated ducts or grouted splice sleeve couplers.

Seismic performance of this connections between concrete

structural wall panels were studied experimentally at CSIR-

SERC. Cyclic tests were conducted on four identical

dimension RC shear wall specimen, out of which one was the

reference structural wall with continuous monolithic wall.

The dimensions of wall were 3.75 m height, 1.5 m width and

0.16 m thickness and in each specimen two walls were kept

parallel in the in-plane direction and the distance from center

to center was 1.19 m. The wall was axially loaded with a

super-imposed vertical load of 130 kN. Nonlinear behaviour

of structural wall with three different types of horizontal

connections was compared with the continuous monolithic

wall. CSIR-SERC and L&T have developed an economical

and reliable connection system. L&T have implemented this

system in their high-rise building project in Mumbai.

DEPUTATION

Abroad

l Dr. V. Srinivas, Principal Scientist is on deputation to

Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA, to carry out

research on “Active Structural Health Monitoring for

Intelligent Bridge Management System” under Raman

Research Fellowship for the period from 26 March 2016

to 25 July 2016.

India

l Dr. G. Raghava, Chief Scientist, Dr. S. Vishnuvardhan,

Shri M. Saravanan, Shri Nawal Kishore Banjara,

5

Government for carrying out social and industry

relevant research. The goals of CSIR were also taken

into consideration while formulating the project

proposals. The Chairman and members provided

valuable comments as well as suggestions to make

improvements to the ‘Vision and Policy’ and ‘Low

Hanging Fruits’ project proposals.

TECHNOLOGY/ PRODUCT/ PROCESS DEVELOPED

Construction of double shear wall panel with connections



Scientists and Shri Abhishek Kumar, Senior Project thFellow participated in the “7 International Conference on

Creep, Fatigue and Creep-Fatigue Interaction (CF-7)”

organized by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic

Research, Kalpakkam, during 19-22 January 2016. Dr.

Vishnuvardhan, presented a paper titled “Fatigue life

evaluation of fillet welded cruciform joints with load-

carrying welds”, Shri Saravanan, presented a paper titled

“Fatigue ratcheting studies on pressurized stainless steel

straight pipes under cyclic bending” and Shri Abhishek

Kumar, presented a paper titled “Evaluation of combined

hardening parameters for Type 304LN stainless steel

under strain-controlled cyclic loading” in the conference.

l Dr. K. Rama Raju, Chief Scientist, attended “FICCI India

growth programme on innovative Indian technologies to

global market”, Chennai, on 4 February 2016.

l Shri G. Ramesh, Scientist, attended a two day workshop

on “Precast Construction Practices in India

Construction” organized by Indian Concrete Institute in

association with IIT-M and Anna University during 12-13

February 2016 at IIT – Madras, Chennai.

l Dr. P. Sivakumar, Dr. J. Annie peter, Chief Scientists, Dr. K.

Sivasubramanian, Senior Scientist, and Shri G. Ramesh,

Scientist, attended a two day workshop on “Precast

Construction Practices in India” conducted by Indian

Concrete Institute in association with Anna University, IIT

Madras and Master Builders at IC&SR Auditorium, IIT

Madras, during 12-13 February 2016.

thl Dr. S. Bhaskar, Principal Scientist, attended the “18

National Congress on Corrosion Control (NCCC–2016)”

organized in Chennai by CSIR-CECRI, Karaikudi, during

24-28 February 2016.

l Dr. K. Rama Raju, Chief Scientist, attended training

program on “New models of partnership and Technology

Transfer” held at CSIR-HRDC, Ghaziabad, during 9-11

March 2016.

INVITED TALKS

HONOURS/ AWARDS/ DEGREE CONFERMENTS

1. Dr. G. Raghava, Chief Scientist, delivered an invited

lecture on “Fatigue crack growth studies of Type 304LN

stainless steel straight pipes”. He also chaired a technical th

session on “Fatigue Crack Growth” in the “7

F Dr. K. Sivasubramanian, Senior Scientist was awarded

Ph.D. degree from Anna University for the thesis titled

“Non-destructive evaluation of high strength concrete thusing improved impact-echo method” during 36

Annual convocation held at Anna University, Chennai, on

20 January 2016.

F Dr. Amar Prakash was awarded Doctor of Philosophy for

his work on “Studies on Steel Fibre Reinforced

Cementitious Composite (SFRCC) panels subjected to

high velocity impact of short projectiles” from Indian

Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai.

6

International Conference on Creep, Fatigue and Creep-

Fatigue Interaction (CF-7)” organized by the Indira Gandhi

Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, during 19-22

January 2016.

2. Prof. Santosh Kapuria, Director, delivered an invited

lecture on “A Refined Method for Baseline-Free Structural

Health Monitoring using Time-Revered Lamb Waves” in

the Indo-French Seminar on “Smart Systems and SHM

for Structures under harsh Environments” organized by

Indian Institute of Science, during 20-22 January 2016 at

Puducherry.

3. Dr. A. Rama Mohan Rao, Chief Scientist, delivered an

invited lecture on “Structural Health Monitoring for Civil

Infrastructure considering Environmental Variability” in

the Indo-French Seminar on “Smart Systems and SHM

for Structures under harsh Environments” organized by

Indian Institute of Science, during 20-22 January 2016 at

Puducherry.

4. Dr. K. Rama Raju, Chief Scientist, made virtual

presentation on “Vibration Control of Structures and

Structural Components with Magneto rheological Fluids”

in the International Conference on “Research and

Innovation in Engineering (ICRIE-2016)” held in Noida

during 12-13 February 2016.

5. Dr. P. Srinivasan, Senior Principal Scientist, delivered

an invited lecture on “Advanced NDT&E for Condition

Assessment of Concrete Structures” in the National

Conference on “Forensic Structural Engineering” held

at VIT, Chennai, on 12 March 2016


The following major projects have been undertaken through

sponsorship or collaboration with public/ private/ government

organizations:

ü Checking the structural design of two numbers of 50m

high towers with two truncations for each tower- Vij

Engineers & Consultants Private Limited, Chennai

ü Protype testing of 220 kV tower TDL type for clean energy

and network efficiency project including destruction test -

LTL Project Private Limited, Colombo

ü Design of 100m MW tower for Coastal districts of

Tamilnadu (200 kmph wind speed) - Commissioner of

Fisheries, Chennai

ü Design adequacy of retaining wall of protective structure

against sea erosion at Moti Daman - Ominibus Industrial

Development Corporation, Daman

ü Testing of 230 kV TL Heavy Suspension towers Type 2Q1

- Steel Products Limited, Kolkata

ü Analysis and design checking of the solar PV mounting

structures supplied by TATA INT (25 Tilt) - ACME Solar

Energy Private Limited, Gurgaon

ü Fundamental frequency analysis of 180m high 400kV

D/C River Crossing Transmission Line Tower - KEC

International Limited, Mumbai

ü Tower Testing Service, DGEN Tower Testing (Testing of

220 kV Suspension Tower of Type PA)- Inabensa Bharat

Private Limited, Panchmahal

NEW FACILITIES

1. State of the art, 48 channel seismograph with

accessories (4.5 Hz & 28 Hz vertical geophones and 2 Hz

three component geophone) and softwares for data

acquisition and processing (multiple geode operating

data acquisition software, SeisImager/2D-standard

refraction data processing software, SeisImager/SW-2D

multi-channel surface wave data processing software

and Seisimager-Passive microtremor and H/V analysis

software) is installed in CSIR-Structural Engineering

Research Centre.

One and two dimensional primary wave and shear wave

velocity characteristics of any given site can be

determined by the 48 channel seismograph having

spread cable length of 240 m. The passive and active

MASW surveys can aid quantification of average shear

wave velocity of top 30 m (V ), which will be useful for s30

site classification and development of design response

spectra using International Building Code procedure.

With the use of seismograph, site frequencies and

amplification of the sites can be estimated, and also

development of microzonation maps of cities based on

V amplification and site frequencies is possible. With s30

the use of existing probabilistic seismic hazard maps,

seismic hazard microzonation maps of cities can be

developed.

A- Geode (seismograph) with accessories, B- Geophones connected tospread cable in the field, C- 7.6 kg hammer with aluminum plate, D- 3D

geophone connected to spread cable, E- Data acquisition software in laptop.

7

F Dr. G.V. Rama Rao, Scientist, was awarded Ph.D. degree

from Anna University for the thesis titled “Seismic

performance evaluation of reinforced concrete shear

walls”.

VISITORS

CONTRIBUTION TO INDUSTRY

â Prof. Thomas Gries, Aachen University, Germany along

with Dr. Mohit Raina, Raina Industries, Mumbai, visited

CSIR- SERC on 10 February 2016 for exploring possible

industry interaction & Indo-German Collaboration in the

area of textile reinforced concrete.

2. A new controller FlexTest 60 is installed at Structural

Testing Laboratory, CSIR-SERC, for operating the existing

actuators. It provides real-time closed-loop control with

transducer conditioning and function generation. Both the

actuators can be operated using the controller and it is

expandable to additional two channels. It possesses eight

channel D/A board to provide 8 analog output and with

MTS Testsuite Multipurpose Elite software.

This quarterly Newsletter is published by CSIR - Structural Engineering Research Centre, CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai - 600 113.

Ph. : 22549201, Fax : 22541508 and Printed at Hindi Prachar Press, Chennai - 600 017. Ph.: 24341244

1. Dr. T. Hemalatha, Senior Scientist, 24.03.2016 - Open

Recruitment

2. Dr. S. Vishnuvardhan, Senior Scientist, 24.03.2016 -

Open Recruitment

3. Shri C. Manavazhagan, CoA, CMC, has taken over

additional charge as Controller of Administration,

CSIR-SERC – 31.03.2016

4. Shri J. Govindarajulu, Assistant (S&P) Gr. I (MACP), rdw.e.f. 09.09.2015 – 3 Financial upgradation under

MACP Scheme

5. Smt. S. Shanthi, Jr. Stenographer (MACP), w.e.f. nd

29.01.2016 – 2 Financial upgradation under MACP

Scheme



RETIREMENTS ON SUPERANNUATION

1. Shri C. Jeyabal, Chief Scientist, Retired on

Superannuation – 31.01.2016

2. Shri C. Sekar, Guest Room Attendant, Retired on


3. Shri C. Jayasingh, Section Officer (S&P), Retired on


4. Shri K. Vasudevan, Chief Scientist, Retired on


5. Dr. (Smt.) Jolly Annie Peter, Chief Scientist, Retired on


6. Shri P. Muthusami, Cook Gr.II(3), Retired on


8

APPOINTMENTS/ PROMOTIONS/ TRANSFERS

FlexTest 60 Controlller and PC with pre-installed MTS TestsuiteMultipurpose Elite software

6. Shri R. Raghuraman, Private Secretary, w.e.f.

17.02.2016 - Promotion under DPC

7. Shri Lokanath Patnayak, Section Officer (Gen.), joined

in the same capacity on transfer from CSIR-CLRI,

Chennai – 11.03.2016

8. Shri Mahesh Prasad, Section Officer (Gen.),

transferred to CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkatta, in the same

capacity – 26.02.2016.

9. Shri Prasenjit Das, Senior Technical Officer (1),

transferred to CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, in the same

capacity – 01.03.2016.

For more details, please contact :

Director

CSIR – Structural Engineering Research Centre

(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)

CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai - 600 113.

Phone : +91-44-22549201 E-mail : [email protected]

Web : www.serc.res.in Facebook : www.facebook.com/csirserc

Newsletter - CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre

Documents

Transcript of Newsletter - CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre