CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — A research team out of Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi is combining math with new tools to learn how to improve and literally, build better bridges.
TAMUCC's Dr. Cid Montaya, an assistant professor of civil engineering who leads the TAMUCC research, explained how the research group uses CFD or “computational fluid dynamics” to build safer, more cost effective bridges.
"Let’s think about the Harbor Bridge. If we take a look at the deck where the cars are crossing, we want to know how much is the wind- the load of the wind creates over the deck," Dr. Cid Montaya said. "So we need to study the aerodynamics of the deck. So we use this technique in order to understand the interaction with the wind and what are the loads that the deck needs to withstand in order to have a safe design."
The team has a wind tunnel inside the research lab that runs simulations.
"We are working on developing numerical design techniques, but at the end whatever we design, we need to validate the results. In industry, companies they carry out the design and then they go to the wind tunnel to check if the performance is good. We are doing the same," Dr. Cid Montaya said.
Two students in the research program told KRIS 6 News reporter Tony Jaramillo about the challenge each bridge brings.
"Every bridge we have to attack in a different way. Different locations like California with earthquakes, here in South Texas it’s winds," Jose Jaquez said.
"I’m seeing the need of what all goes into bridge building and what to consider because we are in salty air and corrosion and things like that," Anya Carlson said.
Dr. Cid Montaya and his team hope to inspire the next wave of engineers to learn.
"We do showcases of the labs and we are really looking forward to educate the next generation of engineers," Dr. Cid Montaya said.
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