STRUCTURAL STABILITY RESEARCH AND STABILITY DESIGN CRITERIA
Theodore V. Galambos, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
Wednesday, April 9, 2003
8 p.m.
Engineering Society of Baltimore
11 W. Mount Vernon Place
Baltimore, MD
Instability of a structure is defined as an undesired event where a small disturbance causes a large or catastrophic deformation. Designers and builders of structures must be continually on the alert because failures often occur without warning. Some historical failures will be used to illustrate the severity of structural instability. One of these will be the collapse of the Yarra River Bridge in Melbourne, Australia. The main theme will be the relationship during the 20th Century between research and structural design standards in the field of steel and aluminum structures. The talk will conclude with a look to the upcoming 2005 design specification for steel building structures now under development by the American Institute of Steel Construction.
Theodore (Ted) V. Galambos is emeritus professor of structural engineering at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had an academic research and teaching career at Lehigh University (1959-1965), at Washington University in St. Louis, where he was Harold Jolly Professor of Structural Engineering (1965-1981), and at the University of Minnesota (1981-1997).
Dr. Galambos’s research areas are the behavior and design of steel structures, the reliability of structures, structural design standards, and the stability of steel structures. Recent research projects include the study of the behavior and design of frames with trussed girders, the inelastic rating of steel bridges, and the development of Load and Resistance Factor Design specifications for cold-formed stainless-steel members and for steel highway bridges. Another research area is the probability-based design of structures and structural systems for serviceability and earthquake load.
He is author of several technical books, including most recently Guide to Stability Design Criteria for Metal Structures (John Wiley and Sons), and scores of published articles. He is an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Structural Stability Research Council, and the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering. Dr. Galambos is a registered professional engineer in Minnesota, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.
Dr. Galambos received the B.S.C.E. and M.S.C.E. degrees from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks in 1953 and 1954, respectively, and the Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1959. In addition, he holds honorary doctorates from the Technical University of Budapest, the University of North Dakota, and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Galambos has received the T.R. Higgins Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction, the Ernest E. Howard Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers and he is one of the 2002 recipients of the ASCE OPAL Award.
The Richard J. Carroll Memorial Lectureship in Civil Engineering was established at The Johns Hopkins University to commemorate one of Baltimore’s leading structural engineers. The lectureship has been endowed by the many friends and admirers of Richard Carroll, who died in 1982. That endowment contributes to the ongoing guest seminars in the Department of Civil Engineering and provides for these special lectures.
Richard J. Carroll received his bachelor of civil engineering degree from Villanova University in 1955. He studied advanced structural design at The Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University. He was chief structural engineer for the firms of Knoerle, Bender, Stone, and Associates, and Ewell, Bomhardt and Associates and chief field engineer for the Portland Cement Association. In 1964 he founded his own firm, Carroll Engineering, Inc., which grew to 26 employees under his leadership. Mr. Carroll published several papers dealing with concrete use and design, with emphasis on post-tensioned and pre-stressed concrete. He also taught courses in ultimate strength design and plastic design in steel. He belonged to numerous professional societies. His untimely death at the age of 49 left a legacy of professionalism, integrity, and vigor.
Donors to the Carroll Memorial Lectureship include:
Carroll Engineering, Inc.For more information about this lecture, please call the Department of Civil Engineering (410)516-8690 or e-mail awampler@jhu.edu.