SpeedCore: Concept, Design, and Considerations (View Only) 2024

Presented by:  Amit Varma, Ph.D., and Joshua Mouras, PE, SE

This course takes a deep dive into SpeedCore, a revolutionary concrete-filled composite plate shear wall (CF-CPSW) system. This course will provide everything you need to know to harness the power of SpeedCore.  We’ll first look at development, testing, and research.  We’ll then jump into the analysis and design of the system, including system proportioning, element design, connections, and erection consideration. An engineer who has utilized the system for west coast projects will present examples, calculations, and practical insights.  This first session is presented by Amit Varma of Purdue University, a key SpeedCore researcher and T.R. Higgins Award winner.  Sessions 2, 3, and 4 are presented by Joshua Mouras of Magnusson Klemencic Associates, who has firsthand experience in designing the SpeedCore system.

Speakers

   

Amit H. Varma, Ph.D. received his BS in Civil Engineering from IIT-Bombay (’94), MS from Univ. of Oklahoma (’96), and PhD from Lehigh University (’01). He has been an academic for 20 years and at Purdue University for 16 years. Varma has dedicated his academic and professional life to the development of innovative steel-concrete composite structures for the built infrastructure including commercial, industrial, and safety-related nuclear structures. He has conducted fundamental research leading to the development of design provisions for composite members, connections, and overall structural systems subjected to extreme loading conditions including seismic, fire, blast, and impactive loading. Varma’s research products are the basis of (and directly cited in) several AISC specifications (AISC 360, AISC 341, AISC N690) for the design of steel-concrete composite structures for building structures and safety-related nuclear facilities. He has previously received the AISC Milek Faculty Fellowship Award (2004), AISC Special Achievement Award (2017, 2020), and the ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award (2019). Varma is the Chair of AISI/AISC Task Committee 8 on Fire Design, and member of Task Committee 5 on Composite Design. He is also a member of the AISC Committee of Specifications and ASCE/SEI 7 Standard Committee. Varma lives in West Lafayette, Ind., with his mother, wife, and two daughters.

Joshua Mouras, PE, SE, is a Senior Associate with Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), an internationally recognized structural and civil engineering firm with offices in Seattle and Chicago. With over 15 years of experience, his portfolio of engineering design work reflects a wide variety of building types both across the country and abroad. He has worked on steel high-rise office towers from 20 to 67 stories, multiple convention center developments as large as 5.5 million square feet, long-span aviation and factory spaces with clear spans over 240 feet, and numerous designs in high seismic zones. As the leader of MKA's Steel Technical Specialist Team, he is also a resource for the firm offering unique knowledge and insight for structures with complex steel designs, especially related to steel detailing and constructability. Josh earned his Bachelors in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and his Masters in Structural Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. He is a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction and is engaged with multiple steel-related research and development initiatives.

This content is free to view. If you would like to receive continuing education credit for this program, you can purchase the credit version here.