Dr Marina Bock, Faculty of Science and Engineering

Dr Marina Bock, Faculty of Science & Engineering

Dr Marina Bock graduated from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2010 as a civil engineer specialising in structural analysis and design. She subsequently embarked on PhD research on the behaviour of cold-formed stainless steel structures.

She holds more than seven years of experience working on steel related R&D projects in Spain and in the UK. She has undertaken technical research and coordination of projects that have contributed to the development of Eurocodes.

She has also carried out inspections of structures, developed new construction designs and refurbishments as a structural and bridge engineer while working as a civil engineering consultant.

Dr Marina Bock joined the Department of Civil Engineering within the School of Architecture and Built Environment in August 2017. She is a FHEA and close to attaining Chartered Status with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

Developing guidelines for use of aluminium structures in off-site manufacturing of pre-fabricated buildings

The UK government is currently looking at ways to provide 300,000 new homes a year during the next decade to address the housing crisis. Off-site construction provides a way forward to meet such a high demand in the required timeframe. Other benefits of off-site construction include reduction of installation and transportation costs, waste, build times, noise and dust in the vicinity of the site while increasing manufacturing precision and structural reliability.

Compared to conventional steel structures, aluminium structures are lighter and offer higher strength-to-weight ratio which can reduce even more the installation and transportation costs. They are recyclable and due to their higher corrosion resistance, they also require less maintenance.

Aluminium alloys have a tensile strength up to 500N/mm2 and despite displaying a lower modulus of elasticity comparted to steel (70kN/mm2) and hence higher susceptibility to buckling, their favourable strength-to-weight ratio makes them an attractive alternative for structural applications.

Despite these profound benefits, structural aluminium elements are less used in the built environment and have been overshadowed by other conventional construction materials arguably due to the lack of suitable design guidance. The purpose of the project is to investigate the response of aluminium beams. The current design code dealing with aluminium structures, the BS EN 1999, does not cover all the structural verifications required. Moreover, the design provisions specified in this code have been adopted from the code dealing with the design of steel structures, despite the significant differences in the behaviour between the two materials, hence leading to inefficient design and unduly large over-engineered structures.

This project represents, therefore, a first step in the development of a much needed set of guidelines that will facilitate the design of aluminium prefabricated buildings and enable a wider utilisation of structural aluminium in the construction industry.