On 29 May, representatives of the Department of Transport Systems and Road and Bridge Construction (TS&RBC) of the SPbGASU Faculty of Automobile and Road Building, together with colleagues from Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU), organized and held the first session of the online workshop "Bridging the Future."
The main goal of the workshop series is to exchange experiences and establish professional contacts between young scientists from Russia and China. The event was held via a teleconference between the two universities, with remote access available. The SPbGASU Educational Center for Digital Competence served as the workshop venue. Over 30 participants took part in the workshop. The key topic of the first session was "Advanced Analysis of Steel-Concrete Bridges."
At the beginning of the seminar, representatives from the two universities' relevant departments presented their key research areas and competencies. Associate Professor at the Department of TS&RBC Anton Syrkov, who is also the Chairman of the Russian National Group of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), presented the department. He discussed the key milestones in the university's history, the research competencies of the department's staff, and current and future research projects. Associate Professor Xia Chaoyi, who also co-organized the meeting on behalf of BJTU, represented the department on the Chinese side.
The scientific portion of the workshop featured presentations on various topics related to the analysis of composite bridges. BJTU Master's student Zhang Chao first presented a paper on the temperature distribution in composite bridges for magnetic levitation (maglev) systems.
The second speaker was Nikolay Kozak, Associate Professor at SPbGASU, who presented a review paper on the possibilities of analyzing composite superstructures taking into account the degradation of connecting elements caused by fatigue processes. Nikolay Kozak has been researching this area for the past five years, and this paper was the first to summarize all the results obtained.
Presentation by Nikolay KozakThe workshop then featured a report by BJTU Professor Zhu Li, in which he presented a design method for suspension bridges using analytical approaches to determine the optimal shape of the main support cable. Next was a joint presentation by students from the specialist's and master's programs at the SPbGASU Department of TS&RBC Igor Rudakov and Oleg Zorochkin, who presented the results of their research on assessing the reliability and operational risks of composite bridges using traffic data. This presentation marked the students' first experience presenting in English at a relevant scientific event.
Igor Rudakov and Oleg ZorochkinThe final report, made by BJTU Associate Professor Su Han, focused on the degradation mechanism of mechanical properties and predicting the fatigue life of flexible pin abutments for composite bridges made of weather-resistant steel in corrosive environments. This topic is closely related to Nikolay Kozak's research interests. During the discussion following the reports, an agreement was reached on the need for collaboration and exchange of experience in this area.
In addition to the reports, the workshop included active discussions on the materials presented. This format is especially important for young researchers, as it allows them to receive constructive feedback while simultaneously understanding the importance and relevance of their research.
According to the organizers, this initiative will continue to operate on a regular basis in the fall, with subsequent sessions to be held on other relevant topics.