Dr Brunella Balzano
Lecturer in Smart Civil Engineering
- balzanob@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 4597
- Room W 2.34, Queen's Buildings - East Building, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
Overview
About me
I am a Lecturer in Smart Civil Engineering at Cardiff University since July 2020. II am currently Co-Investigator of the UKRI-EPSRC Resilient Materials 4 Life (RM4L -https://rm4l.com/) Programme Grant: an exciting and challenging opportunity to study and develop high-specs self-healing materials in construction industry. I am a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Civil Engineering (CEng MICE) .
My main research activity is associated with the REsilient Structures and COnstruction Materials (RESCOM) Research Group. My research activities focus on the reuse of structural elements from End of Life Buildings as solution to reduce material waste. My research also involves the development of smart technologies and automated system for the self-repairing of concrete instrastructures. The main vision of the research is the design of smart structural elements able to detect, recognize and heal a crack damage. The aim is to reduce emissions associated with the construction industry and build sustainable buildings. I am also interested in the development of digital tools for the knowledge-based design of intelligent structures. I have experience in structural analysis of reinforced concrete and steel structures.
Biography
Education:
- 2013-2018: PhD Strudent, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
- 2010- 2013: MEng, Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, University of Federico II, Naples
Grade: 110/110 cum Laude equiv. First Class Honors - 2007-2010: BEng, Enviromental Engineering, University of Federico II, Naples
Grade: 110/110 cum Laude equiv. FirstClass Honors
Work Experience:
- 2020 - present: Lecturer in Smart Civil Engineering at Cardiff University
- 2018 - 2020: Research Associate , School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- 2017 - 2018: Design Engineer, Spencer Group, UK
- 2016: Visiting Researcher, University of Brazilia, Brazil
- 2015: Visiting Researcher, Pessl Instruments, Austria
Honours and awards
2019, Marie Curie Alumni Association. Micro Travel Grant to participate as invited speaker at the “Failed and Bored” Conference, Austria.
2019, Institution of Civil Engineers. Emerging Engineer Award, Wales.
2019, Athena Swan. Travel Grant for the Gender Equality Workshop in Newcastle.
2018, CA 15202 SARCOS COST Action. Travel grant to attend the 2nd SARCOS Training School in FRY Macedonia.
2016, GREAT (Geotechnical and geological Responses to climate change: Exchanging Approaches and Technologies on a world-wide scale). Travel Grant for Secondment to University of Brasilia.
2015, Marie Curie Industry-Academia Pathways. Travel grant for Secondment to Pessl Instruments, Austria.
Professional memberships
- 2020: Chartered Member (CEng MICE) of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) .
- 2013: Ingegnere Civile ed Ambientale (Chartered Civil Engineer equivalent, Italian Engineering Council)
Academic positions
2020- Present: Lecturer in Smart Civil Engineering, Cardiff University
2018-2020: Postdoctoral Research Associate for the RM4L Project, School Of Engineering, Cardiff
2016-2016: Visiting researcher, University of Brasilia
2015-2015: Visiting Researcher, Pessl Instruments, Weiz, Austria
2015-2015: Environmental Agency, Beverley, Visiting Researcher
Speaking engagements
2019. Failed and Bored Conference (Organized by Marie Curie Alumni Association), Innsbruck. “Hunting the error”,
Invited speaker
2019. International Conference on Self-Healing Materials, Japan. “Enhanced Concrete crack closure with hybrid shape
memory polymer tendons”.
2019. Conference on the Fracture Mechanics of Concrete Structures (FRAMCOS), France. “Enhanced Concrete crack
closure with hybrid shape memory polymer tendons”.
2016. European Conference on Unsaturated soils, France. “Analysis of a rainfall-triggered landslide at rest and be thankful
in Scotland”.
2015. Environmental Agency, Beverley, UK. “Flood vulnerability of transportation infrastructure in floodplains”.
Publications
2022
- Maddalena, R. et al. 2022. Applications and life cycle assessment of shape memory polyethylene terephthalate in concrete for crack closure. Polymers 14(5), article number: 933. (10.3390/polym14050933)
2021
- Balzano, B., Bruno, A. W., Denzer, H., Molan, D., Tarantino, A. and Gallipoli, D. 2021. REAL-TIME quality check of measurements of soil water status in the vadose zone. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 121, article number: 102918. (10.1016/j.pce.2020.102918)
- Balzano, B., Sweeney, J., Thompson, G., Tuinea-Bobe, C. and Jefferson, A. 2021. Enhanced concrete crack closure with hybrid shape memory polymer tendons. Engineering Structures 226, article number: 111330. (10.1016/j.engstruct.2020.111330)
2020
- Maddalena, R., Bonanno, L., Balzano, B., Sweeney, J. and Mihai, I. 2020. A crack closure system for cementitious composite materials using knotted shape memory polymer (k-SMP) fibres. Cement and Concrete Composites 114, article number: 103757. (10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2020.103757)
2019
- Balzano, B., Tarantino, A. and Ridley, A. 2019. Preliminary analysis on the impacts of the rhizosphere on occurrence of rainfall-induced shallow landslides. Landslides 16(10), pp. 1885-1901. (10.1007/s10346-019-01197-5)
- Balzano, B., Tarantino, A., Nicotera, M. V., Forte, G., De Falco, M. and Santo, A. 2019. Building physically-based models for assessing rainfall-induced shallow landslide hazard at the catchment scale: the case study of the Sorrento Peninsula (Italy). Canadian Geotechnical Journal 56(9), pp. 1291-1303. (10.1139/cgj-2017-0611)
2014
- Balzano, B., Amabile, A., Caruso, M. and Tarantino, A. 2014. A numerical study of hydrological effects of vegetation on slope stability. In: Khalili, N., Russell, A. and Khoshghalb, A. eds. Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications. CRC Press, pp. 1249-1256.
- Amabile, A., Balzano, B., Caruso, M. and Tarantino, A. 2014. A conceptual model for water-limited evapotranspiration taking into account root depth, root density, and vulnerability to xylem cavitation. In: Khalili, N., Russell, A. and Khoshghalb, A. eds. Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications. CRC Press
2012
- Balzano, B., Amabile, A., Urciuoli, G. and Tarantino, A. 2012. Effect of partial saturation on the stability of shallow foundations above the water table. In: Mancuso, C., Jommi, C. and D'Onza, F. eds. Unsaturated Soils: Research and Applications., Vol. 2. Springer, pp. 247-253., (10.1007/978-3-642-31343-1_31)
Teaching
Structures - Dynamics (Year 1)
FE Applications (Year 3)
Design Fesasibility (Year 4)
Research interests:
- Reuse of RC structural elements from End of Life buildings
- Structural Design
- Smart Crack closure technologies
- Concrete 3D printing
- Structural Shape optimization
- Self-Healing Concrete
- Shape memory polymers
- Non invasive testing for structural elements
- Structural monitoring
Current Projects |
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| Title | People | Funder | Value | Duration |
| Resilient Materials 4 Life (RM4L) | AD Jefferson, DR Gardner, M Harbottle, IC Mihai, RE Davies, A Paul, R Maddalena, B Balzano | UKRI-EPSRC | £4,837,625 | 04/2017 - 04/2022 |
| Towards next generation infrastructures: Smart Hybrid Tendons for Concrete Self-healing | B Balzano, J Sweeney | IAA-EPSRC | £19,925 | 06/2021 - 05/2022 |
Internships |
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| Title | Student | Funder | Value | Duration |
| Smart Concrete Structures | Yuk Lam Jasper Chiu | On-Campus Internship (Futures) | £1,000 | 06/2021 - 08/2021 |