Dr Samir Dirar BSc (Hons), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Cantab), PCAP, FHEA

Department of Civil Engineering
Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Structural Engineering
Programme Director, MSc in Structural Engineering

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 4385
Fax: +44 (0) 121 414 3675
Email: s.m.o.h.dirar@bham.ac.uk

View my research portal

Address: School of Civil Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Samir is leading structural concrete research at the School of Engineering, University of Birmingham. His research focuses on resilience and sustainability of existing and new infrastructure assets. His research interests range from fundamental material behaviour to overall system response. Specific topics include strengthening and repair of existing structures, low impact concrete, nonlinear finite element modelling and structural health monitoring. Moreover, Samir is actively contributing to other areas of Structural Engineering research including, but not limited to, steel and aluminium structures.

Samir works closely with leading research groups in the UK and beyond. He has led and/or successfully delivered research projects funded by EPSRC, Horizon 2020, the UK construction industry, the British Council and overseas funders.

Qualifications

Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Birmingham, 2017
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2016
PhD in Engineering, University of Cambridge, 2010
MPhil in Engineering, University of Cambridge, 2005
BSc (Hons) in Civil Engineering, University of Khartoum, 2002

Teaching

Samir has taught a variety of Civil and Structural Engineering modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Postgraduate supervision

Samir Dirar’s research interests include the following:

Strengthening and repair of existing structures with advanced composite materials
Non-linear finite element analysis of reinforced concrete structures
Structural health monitoring
Dr Dirar supervises doctoral research in these areas, as well as in the development of design guidelines for strengthening reinforced concrete structures.

Other activities

Conference Chair, 9^th International Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction (ACIC 2019)
Guest Editor, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering and Computational Mechanics (Vol. 171, Issue 2 and Vol. 171, Issue 4)
Member of American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 440-0F - FRP-Repair-Strengthening
Member of fib Action Group 8 Non-linear Finite Element Modelling
Member of ASTM International Committee D30 on Composite Materials
Member of the Scientific Committee, 25^th UKACM Conference on Computational Mechanics

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Tziavos, N, Gkantou, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Baniotopoulos, C 2020, 'Behaviour of grout-filled double-skin tubular steel stub-columns: Numerical modelling and design considerations', Structures, vol. 27.

Tziavos, N, Hemida, H, Dirar, S, Papaelias, M, Metje, N & Baniotopoulos, C 2020, 'Structural health monitoring of grouted connections for offshore wind turbines by means of acoustic emission: an experimental study', Renewable Energy, vol. 147, no. 3, pp. 130-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.114

Bock, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Raybone, P 2019, 'Assessment of web crippling design provisions for application to proprietary soldier beams', Structures, vol. 20, pp. 147-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2019.03.011

Faizi, K, Faramarzi, A, Dirar, S & Chapman, D 2019, 'Investigating the monotonic behaviour of hybrid tripod suction bucket foundations for offshore wind towers in sand', Applied Ocean Research, vol. 89, pp. 176-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2019.05.018

Faizi, K, Faramarzi, A, Dirar, S & Chapman, D 2019, 'Monotonic and cyclic lateral load tests on monopod winged caisson foundations in sand', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeen.19.00056

Gkantou, M, Kokosis, G, Theofanous, M & Dirar, S 2019, 'Plastic design of stainless steel continuous beams', Journal of Constructional Steel Research, vol. 152, pp. 68-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2018.03.025

Elflah, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Yuan, H 2019, 'Structural behaviour of stainless steel beam-to-tubular column joints', Engineering Structures, vol. 184, pp. 158-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2019.01.073

Elflah, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Yuan, H 2018, 'Behaviour of stainless steel beam-to-column joints - Part 1: Experimental investigation', Journal of Constructional Steel Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2018.02.040

Elflah, M, Theofanous, M & Dirar, S 2018, 'Behaviour of stainless steel beam-to-column joints-Part 2: numerical modelling and parametric study', Journal of Constructional Steel Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2018.04.017

Conference contribution

Dirar, S, Qapo, M & Theofanous, M 2018, Design of reinforced concrete T-beams strengthened in shear with externally bonded FRP composites. in E Ferrier, K Benzarti & J-F Caron (eds), 9th International Conference on Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Civil Engineering, CICE 2018. 9th International Conference on Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Civil Engineering, CICE 2018, vol. 2018-July, International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC), pp. 726-734, 9th International Conference on Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Civil Engineering, CICE 2018, Paris, France, 17/07/18.

Editorial

Faramarzi, A & Dirar, S 2019, 'Editorial', Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Engineering and Computational Mechanics, vol. 171, no. 4, pp. 145-146. https://doi.org/10.1680/jencm.2018.171.4.145

Paper

Sogut, K, Dirar, S, Theofanous, M & Faramarzi, A 2019, 'Effect of existing steel-to-embedded FRP shear reinforcement ratio on the behaviour of reinforced concrete T-beams', Paper presented at 9th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction 2019, ACIC 2019, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 3/09/19 - 5/09/19 pp. 11-16.

Dutta, B, Sogut, K, Dirar, S, Nayak, AN, Nanda, B, Theofanous, M & Faramarzi, A 2019, 'Nonlinear finite element analysis of reinforced concrete beams strengthened in shear with embedded steel bars', Paper presented at 9th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction 2019, ACIC 2019, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 3/09/19 - 5/09/19 pp. 239-244.

Rahman, R, Dirar, S, Jemaa, Y & Theofanous, M 2019, 'Numerical modelling of reinforced concrete beam-column joints shear-strengthened with embedded CFRP bars', Paper presented at 9th Biennial Conference on Advanced Composites in Construction 2019, ACIC 2019, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 3/09/19 - 5/09/19 pp. 245-250.