Mr Pavan Chigullapally

Biography

Pavan did his under graduation at IIT-BHU, Varanasi, India and graduated from it in 2010. He then worked as an Assistant Manager for 2 years at Reliance Infrastructure, India in 2 – 4000MW thermal power plants. Later, he moved to USA to complete his MS in Structural Engineering at NC State University. There he was awarded a full departmental research scholarship and worked on various research projects related to FRP, Nondestructive testing of Materials, and Bridge test inspections etc. After completing his Masters in 2014, he moved to Manhattan, New York, to further his career as a structural engineer designing high rise buildings. 99 Hudson in NJ, 15 East 30th street, NY etc. are some of the projects he worked on. He then moved to Auckland, NZ in 2017 to pursue his PhD. He is now a Ph.D. Candidate and QuakeCoRE scholar at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Auckland.

Research | Current

The main objective of this research is to characterize the in-situ behavior of reinforced concrete bridge components that are typical of New Zealand design. By undertaking a suite of field tests on the Whirokino Trestle during its demolition and the extraction of components for off-site testing. Six isolated pile tests under monotonic pushover and cyclic pushover were performed during the demolition of the bridge on-site. Following field testing, I will focus on the development of analytical models for the Whirokino Bridge piles, Henderson Creek Bridge piles, and Thorndon Bridge using OpenSeesPy to capture the strength and dynamic properties of bridges components and subassemblies, allowing for an assessment of the ability of existing modeling techniques to represent the in-situ characteristics. Using this information, we can analyze different possible failure modes of the bridge as a whole and at an element level. The data obtained during this research program will be used in improving assessment approaches for existing bridges and their potential retrofitting needs in New Zealand, as well as being applicable to older buildings in New Zealand that have similar column designs.

Some more information related to my research covered by various organizations: 

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/old-whirokino-trestle-stands-up-to-destructive-earthquake-testing/

https://www.eqc.govt.nz/news/old-whirokino-trestle-stands-up-to-destructive-earthquake-testing

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/old-bridge-tested-give-researchers-idea-earthquake-proof-bridges

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/horowhenua-chronicle/news/earthquake-simulation-on-old-whirokino-trestle-to-provide-valuable-data/2W2MM4Z3Z2VS56SVNR3KWYNYFU/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPp8GHgAEY8&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=WakaKotahiNZTransportAgency

https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/manawatu-guardian/20200611/281569472966381

Teaching | Current

Civil 331 (Graduate Teaching Assistant)

Civil 221(Graduate Teaching Assistant)

Civil 210(Graduate Teaching Assistant)

Distinctions/Honours

2017 QuakeCoRE PhD Scholarship - NZ

2012 NCSU Civil Department Research Scholarship - US

2006 Prathiba Award - State Government of A.P. - India

Areas of expertise

Seismic assessment of reinforced concrete bridges and structures

Performance of reinforced concrete components of bridges 

Nonlinear analysis of structures

High Rise building design 

Bridge Design and Construction

Seismic analysis using OpenSees python