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

Samir Dirar

Department of Civil Engineering
Associate Professor of 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, 9th 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, 25th UKACM Conference on Computational Mechanics

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Bock, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Lipitkas, N 2021, 'Aluminium SHS and RHS subjected to biaxial bending: experimental testing, modelling and design recommendations', Engineering Structures, vol. 227, 111468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111468

Sogut, K, Dirar, S, Theofanous, M, Faramarzi, A & Nayak, AN 2021, 'Effect of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement ratios on the behaviour of RC T-beams shear-strengthened with embedded FRP bars', Composite Structures, vol. 262, 113622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.113622

Bhanugoban, M, Yapa, H & Dirar, S 2021, 'Efficient shear retrofitting of reinforced concrete beams using prestressed deep embedded bars', Engineering Structures, vol. 246, 113053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113053

Lakavath, C, Suriya Prakash, S & Dirar, S 2021, 'Experimental and numerical studies on shear behaviour of macro-synthetic fibre reinforced prestressed concrete beams', Construction and Building Materials, vol. 291, 123313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123313

Yapici, O, Theofanous, M, Yuan, H, Skalomenos, K & Dirar, S 2021, 'Experimental study of ferritic stainless steel bolted T-stubs under monotonic loading', Journal of Constructional Steel Research, vol. 183, 106761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2021.106761

Almatrafi, M, Theofanous, M, Bock, M & Dirar, S 2021, 'Slenderness-based design for sigma sections subjected to interior one flange loading', Thin-Walled Structures, vol. 158, 107194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2020.107194

Almatrafi, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Bock, M 2021, 'Structural response of cold-formed lipped Z purlins – Part 2 numerical modelling and optimisation of lip size', Thin-Walled Structures, vol. 161, 107453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2021.107453

Almatrafi, M, Theofanous, M, Dirar, S & Gkantou, M 2021, 'Structural response of cold-formed lipped Z purlins – part 1: experimental investigation', Thin-Walled Structures, vol. 161, 107452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tws.2021.107452

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

Conference contribution

Faizi, K, Hojjati, A, Faramarzi, A & Dirar, S 2022, Evaluation of seepage flow during installation of suction caisson foundation in homogeneous sand and sand overlaying inclined clay. in A Lemnitzer & AW Stuedlein (eds), Geo-Congress 2022: Deep Foundations, Earth Retention, and Underground Construction. Geotechnical Special Publication, no. 332, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), pp. 309-318, 2022 GeoCongress: State of the Art and Practice in Geotechnical Engineering - Deep Foundations, Earth Retention, and Underground Construction, Charlotte, United States, 20/03/22. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484029.031

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.

Patent

Faramarzi, A, Chapman, D, Dirar, S, Faizi, K & Mehravar, M Jun. 11 2020, Support structure: winged foundation to support offshore energy structures , Patent No. WO 2020/115474 Al. <https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2020115474>

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