Farhad Ansari

Professor and Head, President of ISHMII

Ph.D. Civil Engineering (1983) University of Illinois at Chicago M.S. Civil Engineering (1979) University of Colorado B.S. Civil Engineering (1976) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Contact Information
Office: 2095 ERF Phone: 312-996-3428 312-996-2437 Fax: 312-996-2426 E-mail: fansari@uic.edu Lab: 1254 SEL Lab Phone: 312-996-3568	Research Laboratory Faculty Profile Publications Personal Page
Research Interests Professor Ansari’s technical areas of interest include the broad discipline of Structural Engineering with emphasis in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM); smart sensors; and Nondestructive Testing. Current research topics include: Integrated Fiber Optic Sensors for Condition Monitoring of bridges; Fiber Optic Acoustic Emission Sensors for real time monitoring of corrosion and fracture; Development of MEMS based sensors for civil structural systems; Optical Fiber Distributed Sensor for Post Seismic Monitoring of Damaged Structures; Monitoring the state of repaired and Strengthened structures; Development of weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems; Image Processing Techniques for Characterization of Entrained Air Bubble System in Concrete.

Research Laboratory

Welcome to our laboratory. Here we are involved in some very interesting work. Our specialty is in structural health monitoring. We build fiber optic sensors and then install them in bridges, dams, buildings, and tunnels. Our capabilities are unique since we are structural engineers with expertise in fiber optic sensors. We build the sensors as well as the interrogation units. These sensors are tested in our structural testing facility for validation and mock up experiments prior to field installations in bridges and other types of structures. Because of our special capabilities our sensors withstand the harsh construction environment and yet capable of measuring the specific parameters they were designed to monitor.

We also perform nondestructive tests (NDT) using acoustical as well as optical methods including ultrasonics, acoustic emissions, stress wave techniques, resonant frequency, and laser holography. NDT in our laboratory is primarily used for investigation into the quality and condition of concrete pavements and bridge decks during the construction and or their service lives.

As an academic entity, the most important product of our laboratory is our students. My students will all develop the unique expertise in sensors, NDT, and structural health monitoring by the time of their graduation.

You may click on the image below and watch the video from one of our recent projects. For this particular project, we built ruggedized surface adhered fiber optic displacement sensors to monitor the curvature of a reinforced concrete column subjected to seismic events as large as 1.65 times the magnitude of Northridge (Rinaldi) earthquake in California . Our sensors measured the dynamic response and provided the frequency response history, a very useful tool for post hazard evaluation of bridges in seismic zones. This particular test was performed at the University of Nevada , Reno in May 17-18, 2005 . We were contracted to manufacture, install and monitor the specialized seismic fiber optic sensors to withstand loadings of the magnitudes described above.

Information about our students and other research activities can be found by using the following the link: Smart Sensors & NDT Laboratory

Typical fiber optic sensors results (powerpoint presentation)

Faculty Profile

Editorial Activities

Guest Editor, Journal of Intelligent Materials Systems and Structures (JIMSS), Sage Publications, UK, (2007)

Associate Editor of ASCE, Journal of Engineering Mechanics (1998-2000)

Guest Editor, Journal of “Structural Control”, Bulletin of ACS, Bologna, Italy (2000)

Guest Editor, Journal of " Intelligent Materials Systems and Structures,(JIMSS)" Sage Publications, UK (1999)

Guest Editor, Journal of “ Cement and Concrete Composites” Elsevier, Oxford, UK (1997)

Awards

President, International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure,” ISHMII, www.ishmii.org

(2007) First Founding Fellow, International Society for Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure (ISHMII), www.ISHMII.org

(2005) Top 20 most downloaded Technical article, “Fiber optic health monitoring of civil structures using long gage and acoustic sensors” Journal of Smart Materials & Structures Vol. 14 No 3, pp. 111-117.

(2005) Top 25 Hottest Artciles, "Crack tip opening displacement in micro-cracked concrete by an embedded optical fiber sensor," Journal of Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Volume 72, Issue 16, 1 November 2005, Pages 2505-2518

(2004) Best Paper Award, honorable mention, appeared in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Journal of Composites for Construction, entitled, “Acoustic Emission Characterization of Damage in Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer Rods,” Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 70–78.

(1997) NOVA award from the "Construction Innovation Forum (CIF)", Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Development of High Early Strength Concrete for Repair of Highway Structures.

(1988) James M. Robbins award for teaching excellence, and for outstanding contribution to Civil Engineering education, Chi Epsilon Honor Society

Publications

Recent Books (2009)" Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure Systems," Woodhead Publishing, Ltd. V.M. Karbhari, F. Ansari, Ed.. 552,pp.

(2005) "Sensing Issues in Civil Structural Health Monitoring," F. Ansari, Ed., Springer Publishing Company, 550 pp.

(2004)"Structural Health Monitoring", A. Mufti, F. Ansari, Eds., Proceedings of Second International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring of Innovative Civil Engineering Structures, September 2004, Winnipeg, Canada, 617 pp.

(2000)"Condition Monitoring of Materials and Structures," Farhad Ansari, Ed., ASCE Press, Reston, VA, pp. 221

(1998), "Fiber Optic Sensors for Construction Materials and Bridges," Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster, PA, 1998, PP. 368.

(1997) "Intelligent Civil Engineering Materials, and Structures," ASCE Press, New York, NY, 1997, PP. 299.

Selected Publications Feng,X, Sun,C.S., Zhang,X., and Ansari, F., " Determination of the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion with Embedded Long Gauge Optical Fiber Sensor," Measurement Science & Technology, Vol. 21, No. 6, June 2010

Talebinejad, I.,Fischer, C., Ansari, F.,2009 " Serially multiplexed FBG accelerometer for structural health monitoring of bridges," Journal of Smart Structures and Systems, Vol.5, No.4, PP: 345-355

Iranmanesh, A; Bassam, A; Ansari, F., 2009, "Post Earthquake Performance of a Typical Highway Overpass Bridge," Journal of Smart Structures and Systems, Vol.5, No.4, PP: 495-505

Xu, ZH, Ansari, F.,2009, “Measurement of creep of optical fiber by a low coherent white light double interferometer system,” Journal of Science in China Series E-Technological Sciences, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 647-650.

Ansari,F.,2009,” Structural Health Monitoring with Fiber Optic Sensors,” Frontiers of Mechanical Engineering in China, Vol.4, No.2, pp. 103-110

Dong,Y., Ansari, F., and Karbhari, V.M.,2008 "Fatigue performance of reinforced concrete beams with externally bonded CFRP reinforcement," Journal of Structure and Infrastructure Engineering (SIE): Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle Design and Performance, 1744-8980

Seyed A. Bassam, and Farhad Ansari, 2008, "Post-seismic Structural Health Monitoring of a Column Subjected to Near Source Ground Motions,"Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 19, No. 10, pp. 1163-1172

Farhad Ansari, " Practical Implementation of Optical Fiber Sensors in Civil Structural Health Monitoring," Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 18, No. 8, August 2007, pp. 879-889.

Ming Zhao, Yontao Dong, Adam Tennant, and Farhad Ansari," Monitoring of Bond in FRP Retrofitted Concrete Structures," Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 18, No. 8, August 2007, pp. 853-860.

Seyed Asadollah Bassam, Been-Jyh Yu, and Farhad Ansari, "Fracture Energy of Concrete by Maturity Method,"ACI, Materials Journal, Vol. 104. No.1, January-February 2007, pp. 77-85.

Zhijun Zhang and Farhad Ansari, "Fracture Mechanics of Air Entrained Concrete Subjected to Compression," Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Volume 73, No. 13, September 2006, pp. 1913-1924

Zhijun Zhang and Farhad Ansari, "Fiber-optic laser speckle-intensity crack sensor for embedment in concrete," Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Volume 126, Issue 1, 26 January 2006,pp. 107-111

Zhijun Zhang, Farhad Ansari, and Nicholas Vitillo, "Automated Determination of Entrained Air Void Parameters in Hardened Concrete," ACI Materials Journal, V. 102, No. 1, January-February 2005, PP. 42-48

Zhang Zhijun and Ansari Farhad,"Crack tip opening displacement in micro-cracked concrete by an embedded optical fiber sensor," Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 72 (16): November 2005, pp. 2505-2518

Shenfang Yuan, Farhad Ansari, Xiaohui Liu, Yang Zhao, "Optic Fiber-Based Dynamic Pressure Sensor for WIM System," Sensors & Actuators A, 120 (2005) PP. 53-58

Sun, C., Liang, Y., and Ansari F., "Serially Multiplexed Dual-Point Fiber Optic Acoustic Emission Sensor," IEEE, OSA, Journal of Lightwave Engineering, Vol. 22, No.2, February 2004, PP. 487-493

Liang, Y., Sun, C, and Ansari,F., "Acoustic Emission Characterization of Damage in Hybrid Fiber Reinforced Polymer Rods." ASCE, Journal of Composites for Construction, Vol 8, No.1, January-February 2004, PP. 70-78.

Sun, CS, and Ansari, F., "Design of the fiber optic distributed acoustic sensor based on Michelson interferometer and its location application," Optical Engineering, October 2003, 42 (10): 2987-2993

Sun CS, Zhao Y, Tennant A, and Ansari F, "Spatial resolution enhancement of fiber-optic scanning white-light interferometer by use of a Vernier principle," Applied Optics, August, 1 2003, 42 (22): 4431-4433.

Chen Z, Liang Y, and Ansari F, "Remote structural health monitoring with serially multiplexed fiber optic acoustic emission sensors," Journal of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, June 2003, Vol. 2, No 1, PP. 141-146.

Zhao, Y., and Ansari, F., "Embedded fiber optic sensor for characterization of interface strains in FRP composite," Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, Vol 100, Issues 2-3, 1 September 2002, PP. 247-251

Li, Q., Zhang, L., and Ansari, F., "Damage Constitutive for High Strength Concrete in Triaxial Cyclic Compression," International Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol. 39, Issue 15, July 2002, PP. 4013-4025.

Li, Q., Yuan, L., and Ansari, F., "Model for measurement of thermal expansion coefficient of concrete by fiber optic sensor," International Journal of Solids and Structures, Volume 39, Issue 11, June 2002, PP. 2927-2937

Li,Q., Li,G., Wang, G., Ansari,F., Liu Q., "Elasto-Plastic Bonding of Embedded Optical Fiber Sensors in Concrete," ASCE. J. of Engrg. Mechanics, Vol. 128, No. 4, April 2002, pp. 471-478.

Li, Q.,B., and Ansari, F., "Circumferential Strain Measurement for a Concrete Cylinder in Uniaxial Compression by a Fiber Optic Sensor," Experimental Mechanics, Vol.42, No.1, March 2002, PP. 37-42.

Dong, Y., luke, A., Vitillo, N., and Ansari, F., "Use of the Maturity Method During Highway Bridge Construction," American Concrete Institute, CI, Vol 24, No. 2, February 2002, PP. 61-66.