Tatar Research Group
Welcome to Tatar Research Group at the University of Delaware
Across the country, our transportation infrastructure is aging. Designed to last a certain amount of time, our nation’s bridges are reaching the end of their design life. Approximately 46,000 bridges, are considered to be in "poor" condition, on which we daily take 178 million trips. Today, the estimated cost to rehabilitate our deficient bridges is $125 billion – posing a significant burden on taxpayers. Without remediation, bridges that are rated as "poor" are also in danger of collapsing, which may lead to deaths and damage to surrounding property.
Moreover, population in the coastal regions are feeling the wrath of climate change, which has led to an increase in hurricanes, flooding, and sea level rise. The climate change also causes higher rates of degradation in buildings and transportation infrastructures which makes them highly vulnerable to collapse under natural hazards.
The main goal of our research is to develop and integrate advanced materials in bridges, residential, and commercial buildings, to make them more durable and resilient when faced with today’s natural hazards. The use of appropriate materials to repair existing structures and to construct new structures can reduce maintenance efforts and slow down deterioration, ultimately improving structural performance, and reducing overall lifecycle costs.
News
Two wins!
March 8, 2021
Tatar Research Group has been awarded two new projects, by NSF and CIAMTIS.
Prof. Tatar is leading the NSF REU Site in Sustainable Resilient Transportation Systems. We focus on convergent research aimed at eliminating transportation-related carbon emissions to combat climate change. The first cohort of students will join us at UD in Summer 2022. Stay tuned for application info and additional details.
We also received a new collaborative project from CIAMTIS focused on "Mitigating Cracking in Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Bridge Connections”! We are excited to contribute to improved UHPC connections in bridges. Our collaborator on the project is Prof. Farshad Rajabipour at Penn State.
CIAMTIS REU at UD
February 20, 2021
Tatar Research Group is excited to lead the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at UD funded by CIAMTIS!
Welcome Ajay!
February 15, 2021
We are super excited to welcome Ajay Baniya to Tatar Research Group!
Paper published in Materials and Structures
July 08, 2020
Our paper "Rapid heat-activated post-tensioning of damaged reinforced concrete girders with unbonded near-surface mounted (NSM) NiTiNb shape-memory alloy wires" was published in Materials and Structures . A huge shout out to LaDOTD and LTRC for funding this work!
Congratulations Abass, Ali and Sandra!
June 24, 2020
Congratulations to Abass Okeola, Ali Cicek and Sandra Milev on passing their preliminary Ph.D. exams!
2020 ASCE ExCEEd Fellowship
March 03, 2020
Prof. Tatar was selected as a 2020 ExCEEd Fellow by the American Society of Civil Engineers. He will attend a teaching workshop at Florida Golf Coast University in Fort Myers, FL in August!
DelDOT Awards
February 21, 2020
Tatar Research Group was awarded two collaborative projects by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT)! We will investigate "Bonding of Overlays to Ultra-High Performance Concrete" (PI: Tatar, Co-PIs: Mondal, Head) and "Structural Performance of Pipe Liners for Corrugated Metal Pipes" (PI: Head, Co-PIs: Shenton, Tatar, Chajes)
CIAMTIS Awards
February 03, 2020
Tatar Research Group was awarded two projects by the USDOT Center for Integrated Asset Management for Multimodal Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CIAMTIS):
“Extending the Service Life of Rigid Pavement Joints with Self-Healing Sealants”(UD PIs: Tatar and Kloxin; Virginia Tech PI: Brand)
“Durability Assessment of Externally Bonded Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Repairs in Bridges” (PI: Tatar)