Research Interests and Activities
 

Fatigue and Fracture Research Group

Dr. Bennett is a member of the KU Fatigue and Fracture Research Group.  You can find more information concerning this research team, by clicking here.


Soil-Structure Interaction Research Group

Capacity of Scour-Damaged Bridges
Funded by the Kansas Department of Transportation
Investigators: Caroline Bennett, Jie Han, Robert Parsons, and Dave Parr

Scour is a natural phenomenon caused by erosion or removal of streambed or bank material from bridge foundations due to flowing water.  Removal of soil surrounding bridge foundations can lead to an unstable structure as piles are left exposed and unsupported.  Bridge foundations in this state can have significantly lower resistance to lateral loads.  Since scour can occur very rapidly under flood conditions, the high lateral loads induced by flood-level water can quickly lead to a collapse.  Sixty percent of bridge failures are caused by scour.  State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are faced with the real problem of determining the capacity and safety of bridges after bridge scour has occurred.   In addition, the Kansas DOT (KDOT) is interested in determining the susceptibility of its bridges to scour events before a critical situation arises.  There are over 200 scour-critical bridges in Kansas, and to better predict the performance of these bridges under scour a tool is needed.

This research project aims to develop software to aid KDOT in determining the susceptibility of its bridges to scour.  The software will be an add-on to a structural analysis program, STAAD Pro, that is commonly used and available for bridge modeling.  The software will allow KDOT to quickly determine at what depth of scour a bridge becomes unsafe for vehicular traffic.  This tool will enable KDOT to make safe decisions concerning scour-critical bridges on the State Highway network.
 

Design and Evaluation of High Performance Steel Bridge Girders

Dr. Bennett is interested in different aspects of bridge girder design and evaluation, specifically considering the use of high performance steel (HPS).  High performance steel offers a number of advantages over tradition grades of steel: better weathering capabilities, improved weldability, higher yield strength, and improved toughness.  These features make HPS attractive to bridge designers who primarily wish to capitalize on decreased life cycle costs and the opportunity to design shallower girder sections.  Because HPS is a relatively new material, there are a number of design areas which must be validated.  Some areas which Dr. Bennett has investigated include material characterization, fatigue strength, lateral load distribution, and inelastic moment redistribution in HPS bridges.
 
Much of this work was made possible with funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.

Other Research Interests

Some of Dr. Bennett's other research interests include
    - Bridge system behavior
    - Steel structures
    - Fatigue and fracture in structures and structural components
    - Fatigue detail improvements and retrofits
    - High performance steel performance and design criteria
    - Inelastic bridge design