Civil Engineering, MSc

Swansea University

The module aims to develop fundamental research skills. It comprises the development of supervised research work leading to a dissertation in the field of the Master's degree programme. The specific research topic will be chosen by the student following consultation with academic staff. On completion of this module, students should have the ability to: Investigate a research topic in detail; Formulate research aims; Devise and plan a research strategy to fulfil the aims; Carry out research work - undertake a literature search, a laboratory based or computer based investigation or a combination of these; Gather, organize and use evidence, data and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources; Critically analyse information; Make conclusions supported by the work and identify their relevance to the broader research area; Resolve or refine a research problem, with reasoned suggestions about how to improve future research efforts in the field; and produce a report (dissertation), with the findings presented in a well organised and reasoned manner.

Engineering interventions interact with and shape society, the environment and the economy. Research engineers have a responsibility to explore the potential wider impact of their engineering interventions and processes beyond the technical domain. This could take the form of an aerospace engineer confronting the fact that components for an essential control system use elements sourced from conflict zones, or it could be a civil engineer using limited financial resources to decide which of several in-need communities benefit from infrastructure upgrades and which do not. There are often no simple answers or perfect solutions to engineering projects which operate within their own cultural and financial constraints. A holistic and sustainable engineering approach is one that characterises potential impacts as fully as possible, so that engineering judgement is applied using this insight. This module will introduce both quantitative and qualitative research methods, showing how different methodologies are appropriate when targeting various objectives. While quantitative approaches are necessary to determine product safety, not all important factors can be reduced to a numeric quantity and a wider toolbox of techniques is required when engaging with intangible factors. Qualitative approaches can a better way of understanding how end-users appreciate or interact with the end product or process, which in turn may dictate success. Ethical issues concerning negative impacts on environment or society may raise questions of value, duty or morality. This requires the application of moral reasoning rather than scientific reasoning. Through the introduction of research methods and techniques to explore and characterise wider impacts, this module will equip students with the skills and background research needed to embark on their dissertation research project.

This module aims to equip students with advanced structural design concepts from first principles, such as yield line theory, prestressed beams, combined torsion, bending and shear, strut and tie, composite sections, fire engineering. Design of sustainability and its applications will be taught. The module is taught in accordance with structural Eurocodes. Upon completion of this module students should be able to: Analyse and select advanced design theories, techniques and software for the analysis and design of complicated reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, steel structures and steel-concrete composite plate girders; Apply concepts of health and safety to specific design exercises such as fire engineering; Apply concepts of sustainable design to specific design contexts; Design prestressed concrete beams, steel-concrete composite plate girders and connections under complex loading; Use Eurocodes for safe and effective design of structural elements and systems; Apply fundamental engineering design principles, assisted by current Eurocodes to carry out design of structure elements; Use engineering principles and analytical techniques, assisted by computing software in complicated structural analysis and design.

The module develops theory and associated solution techniques relevant to structural problems related to plates, shells and solid applications. The basic theoretical concepts are firstly introduced and the underlying governing equations then developed. The first topic considered is the elastic theory of plate bending, which is of fundamental importance in the design and analysis of a large class of engineering structures. This is followed by the limit analysis of plate structures, which is of prominence in reinforced concrete design. A central aspect of the course is the treatment of the membrane analysis of shell structures. Most shell structures operate by their resistance to membrane action, rather than bending, and the course develops solution procedures for a range of practical shell structure applications encountered in both civil and mechanical engineering environments. The course concludes by developing solution strategies for structures subjected to torsion, with particular emphasis placed on the analysis of thin walled structures, such as those encountered in bridge deck construction and aerospace applications.

Recent years have seen an increasingly volatile climate and hence severe floods across the UK and worldwide, which also accompanies with a constant demand for expertise and know-hows for flood risk management. We intend to use this module to facilitate civil and environmental engineering students with necessary engineering skills and techniques for flood risk management with special focuses on current practice and national polices related and climate change impact and sustainability issues. Any student wanting to pursue or develop in a related career, e.g., water managers, consultancy in flood risk management is encouraged to take the module.

This module will set out the framework of the construction industry and go some way to prepare students for what they are likely to face when they work with a contractor/designer after leaving university. It will give them an insight of the modern construction industry and the direction of travel of the industry. They will learn what is behind a tender how to identify risk, follow a brief understand marketing and submit a ?compliant tender. This will allow them to see how a tender is structured and submitted and assessed. It will also allow them to see what is important / company culture to be able to manage themselves in the workplace and to assess and manage what is important and allow them to become a valuable employee rapidly. The students will consider the future direction of the construction industry and will investigate the development of information management the required personal development to keep pace with the changes. The programme consists a series of lecture/tutorial classes, group/individual work, presentation and feedback and writing a tender report.

The understanding and the computer simulation of fluid-structure interaction (FSI) is of increasing importance in many areas of modern engineering including Civil, Mechanical, Medical, Chemical and Aerospace Engineering. This module covers the mechanics of fluid-structure interaction as well as the numerical strategies for the computer simulation of such problems. Various phenomena, including wing divergence, oscillating pipes, wind turbine performance, vortex-induced vibrations, galloping and flutter, are studied and different approaches to the computer simulation of fluid-structure interaction are discussed. In the context of the computational strategies, the focus is on solution methods for the coupled system of differential equations that describe the interaction between the fluid flow and the structure.

This module is concerned with basic concepts and methods of computational plasticity. Essential steps required in numerical integration of elasto-plastic constitutive models are first discussed in a one-dimensional setting. Concepts of plasticity under multiaxial stress states are introduced and several yield criteria are described including von Mises, Tresca, Mohr-Coulomb and Drucker-Prager yield criteria. Details of numerical integration are provided for the von Mises yield criterion. Understanding of basic concepts and practical applications are strengthened through the programming exercises focusing on one-dimensional problems, and use of computational codes under multiaxial state of stress. Computer simulations of structural and geotechnical problems are performed, with the objective of understanding the concepts of engineering failure and limit state.

Communication at a research level differs from that at the undergraduate level in that it is usually driven by an output or result rather than the requirement to show knowledge or understanding. The skill of a good communicator at research level lies in efficiently and rigorously conveying the ideas behind the theory and proof of the research output. Verbal, written, visual and group communication will be explored through a series of lectures and formative exercises. By the end of this module the student will be able to: Write a paper or equivalent employing the structure and rigour required at research level (assessed by assignments 1 and 4); Efficiently communicate the concepts associated with complex ideas (assessed by the first written assignment and the oral presentation); Critically evaluate a written output (assessed within the second assessment component); Verbally present a complex idea using the presentation structure, slide content and delivery techniques expected of a research engineer (assessed through the oral presentation); Demonstrate an awareness of the other modes of communication of ideas at a research level such as posters and group discussions (assessed in the second assessment component).