Biography

Dr Juan Sagaseta joined University of Surrey as a Lecturer in September 2010. He obtained the degree of Civil Engineering (Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) at the School of Civil Engineering in Santander, University of Cantabria (Spain) in 2003. During his degree, he specialized in the area of structures obtaining a final grade of A (Sobresaliente). After graduation, he worked as a Structural Engineer in a consultancy office in Madrid (Proes) carrying out structural design of buildings and bridges. In 2005, he moved to London to start his PhD at Imperial College London on Shear Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures. His thesis was focused on the influence of aggregate fracture on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams. This work included testing of large-scale specimens and developing analytical models using the strut-and-tie method, discrete crack approaches and non-linear finite element analysis. The work was summarized in five journal papers and several conference papers. During his PhD he was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London in the following courses: Constructionarium project, Creative Design, Reinforced Concrete Design, Structural Mechanics and Autocad Drawing.

From 2008 to 2010, Dr Juan Sagaseta was a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, where he carried out research on punching shear of flat slabs and slab bridges. His work at EPFL focused on extending existing punching shear models and design methods to non-symmetrical cases, which are commonly found in practice. The findings contributed towards the validation of the new design formulas for punching shear in the first version of the New Model Code 2010 produced by the Fédération Internationale du Béton (fib). In 2011 he was awarded the fib Achievement Award (research category) based on his Doctoral Thesis for the scientific and technical contributions in the area of structural concrete.

Research Interests

Shear and punching shear in reinforced concrete structures

• High-strength and high-performance concrete
• Aggregate interlock action
• Development of improved shear and punching shear design methods
• Discrete crack modelling and fracture mechanics
• Shear strengthening techniques using CFRP and composite materials
• Non-symmetrical punching shear in flat slabs and slab bridges

Structural modelling

• Compression Field and Stress Field theories
• Strut-and-tie method
• Non-linear finite element analysis

Sustainable development

• Relationship between structural engineering and sustainable development
• Adaptation of existing structures to new conditions of loading
• Relationship between existing and new structures
• Remote and new monitoring systems for measuring structural performance

Publications

Refereed Journal papers

[8] M. Fernández Ruiz, J. Sagaseta Albajar, A. Muttoni “The critical shear crack theory as a physical model for punching shear design and its implementation into new Model Code 2010”, Hormigón y Acero, Madrid, Spain (in Spanish), accepted for publication

[7] I.A. Bukhari, R.L. Vollum, S. Ahmad, J. Sagaseta “Shear strengthening of short span reinforced concrete beams with CFRP sheets”, The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (AJSE), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, accepted for publication

[6] J. Sagaseta, A. Muttoni, M. Fernández Ruiz, L. Tassinari “Non-axis-symmetrical punching shear around internal columns of RC slabs without transverse reinforcement”, Magazine of Concrete Research, June 2011, 63(6), 441-457

[5] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Influence of aggregate fracture on shear transfer through cracks in reinforced concrete”, Magazine of Concrete Research, 63(2), Jan. 2011, 119-137

[4] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Influence of beam cross-section, loading arrangement and aggregate type on shear strength”, Magazine of Concrete Research, 63(2), Jan. 2011, 139-155

[3] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Shear design of short span beams”, Magazine of Concrete Research, 62(4), April 2010, 267-282

[2] I.A. Bukhari, R.L. Vollum, S. Ahmad, J. Sagaseta, “Shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams with CFRP”, Magazine of Concrete Research, 62(1), Jan. 2010, 65-77

[1] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Non-linear finite element analysis of shear critical high-strength concrete beams”, Architecture Civil Engineering Environment (ACEE), Vol. 2, No. 4, The Silesian University of Technology, December 2009, 95-106

Conference publications

[6] J. Sagaseta, L. Tassinari, M. Fernández Ruiz and A. Muttoni “New provisions for punching shear in Model Code 2010 based on the critical shear crack theory”, Proceedings of fib International Symposium 2011, Prague, Czech Republic, Vol. 1, 155-158

[5] J. Sagaseta, M. Fernández Ruiz and A. Muttoni, “Non-symmetrical punching of flat slabs and slab bridges without transverse reinforcement”, Proceedings of fib International Symposium 2009, London

[4] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Relative crack displacements in high strength concrete beams failing in shear”, Proceedings of fib International Symposium 2009, London

[3] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Non-linear finite element analysis of shear critical high-strength concrete beams”, Proceedings of AMCM 6th International Conference, Lodz, Poland, pp. 9-11, June 2008

[2] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Strut-and-tie modelling of short span beams”, Proceedings of fib International Symposium 2008, Tailor Made Concrete Structures, Amsterdam, pp. 19-22, May 2008

[1] J. Sagaseta and R.L. Vollum, “Influence of aggregate fracture in shear design of HS concrete structures”, Concrete Communication Symposium (The Concrete Centre), 2007, Sheffield, UK, pp. 29-30, September 2007

Others

[3] J. Sagaseta, “The influence of aggregate fracture on the shear strength of reinforced concrete beams”, PhD Thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Imperial College London, 2008

[2] R.L. Vollum and J. Sagaseta, “Investigation into influence of Ductility Class on shear strength of reinforced concrete beams”, Technical Report for BAR, August 2008, Imperial College London

[1] J. Sagaseta, R.L. Vollum and C. Georgopoulos, “Concrete Framed Buildings: Conceptual Design Manual”, The Concrete Centre, London 2007 (under review by The Concrete Centre)

Teaching

• Semester 1 - Structural Mechanics & Finite Element Analysis (Level M)

• Semester 2 - Structural Analysis 3 (Level 3)

• Supervision/co-supervision of MSc and UG (Level 3) student projects

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Affiliations

2011 – Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE), UK
2011 – European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI)
2011 – Asociación de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos (AICCP), Spain
2008 – ACHE (Scientific Association of Structural Concrete), Spain
2005 – fib (Fédération Internationale du Béton)
2003 – CICCP (Spanish professional body of Civil Engineers), Spain

Awards and Honors

2011 – fib Achievement Award (research category)
2006 – Scholarship for international postgraduate studies (Fundación Caja Madrid)
2002 – Nomination for The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (USA)
2002 – Outstanding Service Award from ASCE for the UNCC concrete canoe team

Student internships

Mar. 2003 – Student intern at Proes Ingenieros Consultores (Madrid), consultancy
Jun. 2002 – Student intern at Ferrovial (Santander), construction firm
Feb.-Jun. 1998 – Student intern at the Computer Science Dept. ETSICCP (Santander)

Extracurricular activities

2006/07 – Student representative of Concrete Structures Section in the Dept. of Civil & Env.Eng. (Imperial College London)
2000/01 – Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers Student Chapter at University of North Carolina at Charlotte