Structural Design, Special Structures

CIEQ5253 replaces CIE5251-09 Structural Design / Spatial Structures, the latter course being discontinued with the introduction of the new MSc Curriculum Civil Engineering in September 2022. CIEQ5253 is only intended for students from the old MSc, track Building Engineering.

CIEQ5253 contains a subset of the learning objectives of the larger module CIEM5250 Building Engineering (15 ECTS), all taken from Learning Unit 3 "Design of Spatial Structures" (5 EC). CIEQ5253 and CIEM5250 run in parallel. Please inform Dr. Andrew Borgart who teaches CIEM5250 that you are taking this subject under the code CIEQ5253.

Learning unit 3 of CIEM5250 and CIEQ5253 are an advanced course in the field of special and spatial building structures, their design process, structural mechanics, structural behaviour and performance, computational modelling, combined with practical use of design- and analysis tools for structural engineering. Topics include

• structures in nature

• biomimetics

• plates, shells and vaults

• membrane and pneumatic structures

• cable-nets

• tensegrity structures

• (space) frames

• grid(shell) structures and domes

• adaptive and deployable structures.

Learning unit 3 of CIEM5250 has a separate written exam, focused on the theory (lecture notes, textbooks) and skills that can best be assessed in a written exam. Since building engineering is very much design-oriented and aiming for a cognitive level that is hard to assess in the limited time of a written exam, formative assessment moments will be included, for example by expert feedback, discussion sessions, presentations, and peer review of designs.

On overall-module level, for each academic year, a different building for a specific clients brief will have to be designed by the students. This design assignment will function as the integrator of the module. Students that take CIEQ5253 will design a subset of the total exercise of CIEM5250, in combination with the same written exam of unit 3 that the students of CIEM5250 take.

Formative assessment will be used throughout the module, in the form of (two)weekly short exercises, quizzes or short tests.

Successful participation in CIEQ5253 requires a minimum grade of 5.8 for both written exam and design assignment.

LU3: individual written exam (2.5 EC), design assignment (2.5 EC)

For more information on grading, see article 14 in the Rules and Guidelines (RGBE):

https://www.tudelft.nl/en/student/ceg-student-portal/education/education-information/educational-rules-and-regulations