Safety assessment of long-existing large concrete dams

Department

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico of Milan

Main research activities/topics/projects

Dams constitute an important economical asset of many Countries. Many aging facilities still provide clean, renewable energy and/or water for drinking and irrigation, supporting the production of about 40% global food. Furthermore, these infrastructures help control extreme events such as floods and droughts that occur more and more frequently due to ongoing climate change.  The proposed research focuses on assessing the safety of existing concrete dams from available monitoring data. Traditional (statistical) and innovative (machine learning) approaches are used. Different methodologies can be combined in order to promptly identify any anomalous values and (the most important and still open problem) identify the anomaly source. The effectiveness of alternative approaches is evaluated on different dam types. 

 The research is carried out in collaboration with colleagues at ItCOLD, the Italian counterpart of the ‘Comite Brasileiro Grandes Barragens’ (CBGB).

Working language

 English

Special entry requirements

Basic computer skills. Former experience with FE modelling and software is preferred, although not compulsory

Duration in months (min-max)

Master Research: 3-6

PhD sandwich: 6 -12

Post Doc: 6- 12