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Course profile

Advanced Concrete Design (CIVL4333)

Study period
Sem 1 2025
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person

Course overview

Study period
Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
Study level
Undergraduate
Location
St Lucia
Attendance mode
In Person
Units
2
Administrative campus
St Lucia
Coordinating unit
Civil Engineering School

In this course, you will be introduced to the fundamentals of prestressed concrete structures, including: analysis and design of prestressed concrete beams, design of simple prestressed concrete bridges and portal frames. You will also be introduced to strut-and-tie modelling as well as analysis and design for torsion and combined actions.

Prestressed concrete structures:

Fundamental principles of prestressing; materials and systems for prestressed concrete; loss of prestress; design of simple and composite beams;ᅠdesign and construction of prestressed concrete bridges; load balancing method; deflection of simple prestressed concrete beam.

Advanced Reinforced Concrete structures design:

Strut-and-tie modelling; Design of reinforced concrete members subjected to torsion and combined actions.

Course requirements

Assumed background

CIVL3360 Reinforced Concrete Design – Design and reinforcement detailing of statically determinate reinforced concrete beams

CIVL3340 Structural Analysis – Analysis of simple beams, continuous beams and portal frames

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

CIVL3360

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

CIVL4330 or CIVL4331

Course staff

Course coordinator

Lecturer

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Aims and outcomes

The major aims of this course are to introduce to the students the analysis and design of prestressed concrete and composite structures. Students will be given opportunities to learn Australian Code for the design of prestressed concrete structures. At the end of this course, students will be able to understand the methods of analysis of prestressed concrete structures including simple beams, continuous beams and portal frame.

With respect to the advanced design of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures, students will be given the opportunity to learn the technique of strut-and-tie modelling for designing non-flexural RC members such as corbel and anchorage of prestressed concrete members. In addition, students will be given the required theoretical background, analysis method and design rules for dealing with RC members subjected to torsion and combined actions. This knowledge is very important in the design of simple or continuous prestressed concrete bridges.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

LO1.

Describe the different types of prestressed concrete structures and their applications.

LO2.

Evaluate the stress level of prestressed concrete beam under serviceability design limit state.

LO3.

Understand, evaluate and design the loss of prestress in prestressed concrete member.

LO4.

Analyse and design simple prestressed concrete beam for serviceability and ultimate design limit states.

LO5.

Analyse and design composite structures.

LO6.

Analyse and design statically indeterminate prestressed concrete structure, e.g. continuous beam and portal frame.

LO7.

Understand the theory of strut-and-tie modelling, and apply the theory to design reinforced and prestressed concrete structures.

LO8.

Appreciate the effect of torsion in concrete structures. Understand the theory to evaluate effect of torsion in RC member, and apply the theory to analyse and design RC member subjected to torsion and combined actions.

Assessment

Assessment summary

Category Assessment task Weight Due date
Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Tutorial/ Problem Set Assignment Series
40%

Assignment 1 - Stress distribution in prestressed concrete 27/03/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 2 - Loss of prestress 10/04/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 3 - Design of prestressed concrete beams 17/04/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 4 - Strut-and-tie modelling 15/05/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 5 - Torsion/Combined actions 29/05/2025 3:00 pm

Examination Final Exam
  • Hurdle
  • Identity Verified
  • In-person
60%

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Assignment Series

Mode
Written
Category
Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Tutorial/ Problem Set
Weight
40%
Due date

Assignment 1 - Stress distribution in prestressed concrete 27/03/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 2 - Loss of prestress 10/04/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 3 - Design of prestressed concrete beams 17/04/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 4 - Strut-and-tie modelling 15/05/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 5 - Torsion/Combined actions 29/05/2025 3:00 pm

Other conditions
Time limited.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes
L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08

Task description

Assignment 1 - Stress distribution in prestressed concrete (8%)

Assignment 2 - Loss of prestress (7%)

Assignment 3 - Design of prestressed concrete beams (10%)

Assignment 4 - Strut-and-tie modelling (10%)

Assignment 5- Torsion/Combined actions (5%)

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Submission guidelines

Assignment must be submitted via Blackboard no later than 3 pm on the due date.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Late submissions of Assignments will only be accepted if approval for late submission has been obtained through Professor Rebecca Gravina for Assignments 1, 2 & 3 or Associate Professor Vinh Dao for Assignments 4 & 5 prior to the due date.

Final Exam

  • Hurdle
  • Identity Verified
  • In-person
Mode
Written
Category
Examination
Weight
60%
Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Other conditions
Time limited.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes
L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08

Task description

This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Hurdle requirements

To obtain a pass (Grade 4 or above), you need to obtain: (1) not less than 50% in overall marks; AND (2) not less than 40% in the final exam.

Exam details

Planning time 10 minutes
Duration 180 minutes
Calculator options

(In person) Casio FX82 series only or UQ approved and labelled calculator

Open/closed book Closed Book examination - no written materials permitted
Exam platform Paper based
Invigilation

Invigilated in person

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Grade Cut off Percent Description
1 (Low Fail) 0 - 19

Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student has no concept about prestressed concrete structures and design of advanced concrete structures.

2 (Fail) 20 - 44

Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student is not able to understand the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student cannot carry out analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures correctly and has no idea about the principle and design of both types of structures.

3 (Marginal Fail) 45 - 49

Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes

Course grade description: The student is not able to understand the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student cannot carry out analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and composite structures correctly, although with some ideas about how the structures work.

4 (Pass) 50 - 64

Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student partially understands the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student can carry out the design of prestressed concrete and advanced concrete structures as per Australian Codes with minor mistakes, but has no idea about the principle and derivation of the design codes.

5 (Credit) 65 - 74

Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student partially understands the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student can correctly carry out the design of prestressed concrete and advanced concrete structures as per Australian Codes but has limited understanding of the principle and derivation of the design codes.

6 (Distinction) 75 - 84

Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student understands the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student can correctly carry out the design of prestressed concrete and advanced structures as per Australian Codes and demonstrate good understanding of the principle and derivation of the design codes.

7 (High Distinction) 85 - 100

Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes.

Course grade description: The student fully understands the principle of analysis and design of prestressed concrete structures and advanced concrete structures. The student can correctly carry out the design of prestressed concrete and advanced concrete structures as per Australian Codes and demonstrate excellent understanding of the principle and derivation of the design codes.

Additional course grading information

To obtain a grade of 3S4, you need to obtain not less than 50% in the supplementary exam.

Grade cutoffs and hurdles

Final marks will be rounded up to an integer value prior to applying hurdles or grade boundaries.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

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Learning period Activity type Topic
Multiple weeks

From Week 1 To Week 13
(24 Feb - 01 Jun)

Lecture

Lecture Series

Introduction to prestressed concrete structures

Materials for prestressed concrete structures

Loss of prestress

Analysis and design of simple PC beams

Analysis and design of composite PC structures 

Analysis and design of composite PC structures

Strut-and-tie modelling

Analysis and design for Torsion/Combined actions

Analysis and design for Torsion/Combined actions

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08

Tutorial

Tutorial Series

Introduction to prestressed concrete structures

Materials for prestressed concrete structures

Loss of prestress

Analysis and design of simple PC beams

Analysis and design of composite PC structures 

Analysis and design of composite PC structures

Strut-and-tie modelling

Analysis and design for Torsion/Combined actions

Analysis and design for Torsion/Combined actions

Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08

Week 7
Fieldwork

Field Trip

Enco Precast Concrete Site Visit

Purpose: Visit to precast concrete facility for CIVL4333 Advanced Concrete Structures students to observe process of prestressing precast concrete beams

Date: Thursday 11th April 2024

Address: ENCO Precast, 73 Counihan Road Seventeen Mile Rocks, QLD 4073

1. Maximum 30 students. Must register to attend via this link https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/enco-precast-concrete-site-visit-tickets-861819434127?aff=oddtdtcreator

2. Meet at Enco Gate at say 9:30am sharp. Will need to run some induction sessions between 9:30 and 10:00. These inductions will be lead by Encos safety officer.

3. Tour from 10:00am to 10:30am.

4. PPE would be

a. Long pants

b. Long Sleeve Shirt

c. Hi Vis Shirt of Vest

d. Safety Boots with Steel Cap or equivalent.

e. Hard Hat would be optional as the cranes will not be working during the time we are there.

f. Safety Glasses would be optional as there will be no welding or grinding while we are there and no pouring of concrete.

5. All attendees would need to complete and sign off on the attached induction Induction Form - Visitors IND04 2023

6. Regarding transport students to make their own way to Enco Precadt site, if arriving by car, park in the nearby Rocks Riverside carpark and assemble at gate. (carpark map will be provided)

Learning outcomes: L01, L03, L05, L07, L08

Additional learning activity information

Date to be advised closer to Week 7.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

School guidelines

Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: