Students from UA’s College of Engineering flexed their skills in the national Big Beam Competition hosted by the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute recently.
Two teams each designed a 20-foot precast, prestressed concrete beam, and then tested how much pressure it would take to break it, applying more than 41,000 psi. The big breaks were recorded and sent to judges along with reports outlining structural design and materials used.
UA’s team 1 took third place in the competition. The team members are Tu Luong, Chas Sanford, Bobby Bryant, Austin Castleberry, Xi Chen and Bryce Payne. Associate Professor and Departmental Graduate Program Director Sriram Aaleti advised the students.