Farhad Ansari, PhD
UIC Distinguished Professor
Christopher B. and Susan S. Burke Professor of Civil Engineering
Civil, Materials, and Environmental Engineering
Contact
Building & Room:
3081 ERF
Address:
842 West Taylor Street, MC 246, Chicago, IL 60607
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
- WTTW interview Collapse Morandi Bridge
- Strucrurally Deficient Bridges
- Structural Monitoring of Bridges
- Sensors protect against collapse
- Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse
- Sherman Minton Bridge Closure. WDRB.com
- Google Scholar
- JCSHM
- Willis Tower Skydeck Ledge Cracks - ABC7
- 2023 Engineering Structures Webinar
About
Research Interests
Professor Ansari’s main area of research is in the application of optical fiber sensors for structural health monitoring. He has consulted on and designed structural monitoring systems for bridges around the world, including New York’s Brooklyn Bridge; Lingotto Bridge in Turin, Italy; New York’s Manhattan Bridge; several cable-stayed bridges in China; and numerous other bridges in the United States including the I-5 Lambert Road box girder bridge in Sacramento, California, as well as Kishwaukee Bridge and Thornton Quarry Bridges in Illinois. Professor Ansari and his students perform fundamental research in structural engineering, sensor technologies, nondestructive testing and mechanics. A major portion of his work involves forensic investigations of bridges and other types of structures. His recent work in Italy pertained to the post collapse analysis of the Morandi Polcevera viaduct in Genoa, Italy.
Editorship
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring, JCSHM, Published by Springer
Research Laboratory
Our expertise is in structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure systems. We develop strategies for forensic analysis of bridges, buildings and other types of civil infrastructure facilities such as pipelines, and tunnels. Our capabilities are unique since we are structural engineers with expertise in fiber optic sensors. Depending on the application, we may either use discrete (FBG) or distributed sensors (BOTDA, Rayleigh, MZ, etc). The range of our structural health monitoring activities include design of the sensor system and wiring for the structure and problem to be solved; installation of the sensor system in the structure; installation of the interrogation unit and data acquisition system in the field; installation of the software specific for the parameters to be monitored; remote real time monitoring of the sensor data; analysis and recommendations. Examples of our projects can be found in our laboratory site. As an academic entity, the most important product of our laboratory is our students, post doctoral fellows and visiting scholars. Our students will all develop unique expertise in sensors, NDT, and structural health monitoring by the time of their graduation.
Selected Publications
1. Dario Poloni, Maurizio Morgese, Chengwei Wang, Todd Taylor, Marco Giglio, Farhad Ansari, Claudio Sbarufatti, (2025),” Reference-free distributed monitoring of deflections in multi-span bridges, Engineering Structures,
Volume 323, Part A, 15
2. Wang C, Morgese M, Taylor T, Etemadi M, Ansari F., (2024), “Generalized method for distributed detection and quantification of cracks in bridges.” Structural Health Monitoring. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/14759217241240129
3. Morgese, M., Wang, C., Taylor, T., Etemadi, M., and Ansari, F., (2024),”Distributed Detection and Quantification of Cracks in Operating Large Bridges,” ASCE, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 29 (1), 04023101
4. Cosimo Pellecchia, Alessandro Cardoni, Gian Paolo Cimellaro, Marco Domaneschi, Farhad Ansari, and Khalil Ahmed Amir (2024),”Progressive Collapse Analysis of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida,” ASCE, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 150, Issue 1.
5. Yu Ying, Maurizio Morgese, Farhad Ansari, Zhijun Gao (2023), “Prediction of crack opening in steel beam based on strains measured from distributed optical fiber sensor,” Journal of Measurement Science and Technology, V. 35, 015101 DOI 10.1088/1361-6501/acfc5b
6. M Morgese, M., Wang, C., Taylor, T., Etemadi, M., and Ansari, F., (2024),”Distributed Detection and Quantification of Cracks in Operating Large Bridges,” ASCE, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 29 (1), 04023101
7. Maurizio Morgese, Chengwei Wang, Yu Ying, Todd Taylor, and Farhad Ansari, (2023),” Stress-Strain Response of Optical Fibers in Direct Tension,” ASCE, Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 149, No. 7 https://doi.org/10.1061/JENMDT.EMENG-6990
8. Tao Jiang, Ming-Zhao Xian, Liang Ren, Jia-Jian Wang, Dong-Sheng Li, and Farhad Ansari, (2023), “Absolute Maximum Slope Difference Method for NPW Real-Time Localization of Leakage in Pipelines, Journal of Structural health Monitoring, doi.org/10.1177/14759217221126813
9. Maurizio Morgese, Yu Ying, Todd Taylor, and Farhad Ansari (2023),” Method and Theory for Conversation of Distributed Fiber -Optic Strains to Crack Opening Displacements,” ASCE, Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 148, No. 12, doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0002168
10. Gong S, Feng X, Zhang G, Ansari F. (2023),”Distributed detection of internal cavities in concrete-filled steel tube arch bridge elements.” Journal of Structural Health Monitoring. May 2022. doi:10.1177/14759217221088457
11. Wang, C., Ansari, F., Wu, B., Li, S., Morgese, M., Zhou, J., (2022),” LSTM approach for condition assessment of suspension bridges based on time-series deflection and temperature data,” in Advances in Structural Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1177/13694332221133604
Service to Community
2019 – present - Panel member, ResearchAssessment Exercise (RAE), Built Environment, University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong.
2018 – 2024 - IDEA Program, Oversight Panel member, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)
2012 – 2018 - Department Academic Advisor – Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering – Hong Kong Polytechnic University
2017- 2018 - Department Academic and Research Assessment Committee Member– University of New Mexico, Civil Engineering
2016 - 2017 - University of Western Florida, Advisor to the College of Engineering for establishment of civil engineering department
2013 – 2014 - State University of New York, Stony Brooke, Advisor to the College of Engineering for establishment of civil and environmental engineering program
2006 – 2009 - Technical Board Member of Fibersensing, Porto, Portugal
Professional Leadership
President (2009 - 2014), International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure – ISHMII (www.ISHMII.org)
Committee Chair, ASCE Engineering Mechancis Committee Chair on “Experimental Analysis and Instrumentation
Notable Honors
2019-2020, Presidential Fellow, University of Illinois System
2018, Aftab Mufti Medal for achievements in civil structural health monitoring, ISHMII - International Society for Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure
2015, UIC Distinguished Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago
1997, Nova Award, Construction Innovation Forum (CIF)
Education
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
Professional Memberships
Fellow of ISHMII, International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure,” www.ishmii.org (2009-2014)
Member American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Intellectual Property
PATENTS
Patent Number 5,082,371, Farhad Ansari, ”Method and Apparatus for Measuring Entrained Air in Concrete,”
Issued 1992
Patent Number 9,109,883, Farhad Ansari, Asad Bassam,” High Resolution Large Displacement/Crack Sensor,” Licensed to Technica.
Issued 2015
Patent Number, 9010176, Farhad Ansari, Amirhossein Iranmanesh,” Scour Sensor and Method of Using Same,”
Issued 2015