Dr Andrew Liew

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering

Lecturer in Civil and Structural Engineering

a.liew@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 5705

Room F118, Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)

Full contact details

Dr Andrew Liew
Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Room F118
Sir Frederick Mappin Building (Broad Lane Building)
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile

My research utilises computational methods and digital fabrication to enhance the efficiency of building construction, to use less natural resources and improve sustainability.

Dr Andrew Liew

Andrew studied his undergraduate Masters degree in Civil Engineering at Imperial College, London, specialising in structural design and analysis, and computational methods.

He then started his career with Arup in the Buildings Engineering Group in London, working on projects including the redevelopment of King’s Cross railway station in London and the structural design of York University metro station in Toronto, Canada.

His work focussed on the engineering of structural elements using reinforced concrete, steel and masonry.

Andrew returned to Imperial College to complete his PhD studies in the ‘Design of structural steel elements with the Continuous Strength Method (CSM)’, which extended the CSM using analytical and numerical methods to calculate the strength and deformations of various steel cross-section shapes and members.

This research aims at more effectively using material strength in construction design to move towards material savings of 10-30%.

Some of the developed resistance equations are used in the American Institute of Steel Construction’s design guide for stainless steel, and feature in the UK Non-Contradictory Complementary Information (NCCI) for Eurocode 3: Part 1.4.

Andrew moved to a post-doctoral position at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich to assist with grant proposals, technical supervision of PhD/Masters students, and the design, analysis and testing of small and large scale prototypes related to digital fabrication.

He also worked on the development of the research group's finite element analysis, numerical methods, form- finding algorithms and visualisation packages through COMPAS, an open-source computational framework used by the architectural and structural disciplines.

Andrew joined us in June 2019 and his research interests focus on computational methods: Python/C++/GPU programming, open-source code platforms, computer aided design, form-finding, numerical algorithms, scientific visualisation, graphical user interfaces, optimisation methods, machine learning and high-performance computing.

By using analytical and numerical methods, he hopes to improve the efficiency of structural design and analysis, and to interface with digital fabrication technologies (such as additive/subtractive manufacturing, new building geometries, and the use of robotics), and help make our industry’s construction and fabrication methods more sustainable.

Andrew will use the state-of-the-art facilities at ICAIR and work closely with industry to pass on these influences.

Research Themes

Digital

Infrastructure

Materials

Publications

Journal articles

Gallet A, Rigby S, Tallman TN, Kong X, Hajirasouliha I, Liew A, Liu D, Chen L, Hauptmann A & Smyl D (2022) Structural engineering from an inverse problems perspective. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 478(2257). View this article in WRRO
Rombouts J, Liew A, Lombaert G, De Laet L, Block P & Schevenels M (2021) Designing bending-active gridshells as falsework for concrete shells through numerical optimization. Engineering Structures, 240, 112352-112352.
López López D, Roca P, Liew A, Méndez Echenagucia T, Van Mele T & Block P (2021) A three-dimensional approach to the Extended Limit Analysis of Reinforced Masonry. Structures.
Liew A (2020) Constrained Force Density Method optimisation for compression-only shell structures. Structures, 28, 1845-1856.
Wu H, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2020) Analysis and optimisation of a rib-stiffened vaulted floor for dynamic performance. Engineering Structures, 213, 110577-110577.
Popescu M, Rippmann M, Liew A, Reiter L, Flatt RJ, Van Mele T & Block P (2020) Structural design, digital fabrication and construction of the cable-net and knitted formwork of the KnitCandela concrete shell. Structures.
Liew A, Avelino R, Moosavi V, Van Mele T & Block P (2019) Optimising the load path of compression-only thrust networks through independent sets. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 60(1), 231-244.
López López D, Roca P, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2019) Tile vaults as integrated formwork for reinforced concrete: Construction, experimental testing and a method for the design and analysis of two-dimensional structures. Engineering Structures, 188, 233-248.
Méndez Echenagucia T, Pigram D, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2019) A Cable-Net and Fabric Formwork System for the Construction of Concrete Shells: Design, Fabrication and Construction of a Full Scale Prototype. Structures, 18, 72-82.
Liew A, Stürz YR, Guillaume S, Van Mele T, Smith RS & Block P (2018) Active control of a rod-net formwork system prototype. Automation in Construction, 96, 128-140.
Rippmann M, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2018) Design, fabrication and testing of discrete 3D sand-printed floor prototypes. Materials Today Communications, 15, 254-259.
Popescu M, Reiter L, Liew A, Van Mele T, Flatt RJ & Block P (2018) Building in Concrete with an Ultra-lightweight Knitted Stay-in-place Formwork: Prototype of a Concrete Shell Bridge. Structures, 14, 322-332.
Block P, Van Mele T, Liew A, DeJong M, Escobedo D & Ochsendorf J (2018) Structural design, fabrication and construction of the Armadillo vault. Structural Engineer, 96(5), 10-20.
Liew A, Pagonakis D, Van Mele T & Block P (2018) Load-path optimisation of funicular networks. Meccanica, 53(1-2), 279-294.
Liew A, Gardner L & Block P (2017) Moment-Curvature-Thrust Relationships for Beam-Columns. Structures, 11, 146-154.
Liew A, López DL, Van Mele T & Block P (2017) Design, fabrication and testing of a prototype, thin-vaulted, unreinforced concrete floor. Engineering Structures, 137, 323-335.
Liew A, VanMele T & Block P (2016) Vectorised graphics processing unit accelerated dynamic relaxation for bar and beam elements. Structures, 8, 111-120.
Buchanan C, Gardner L & Liew A (2016) The continuous strength method for the design of circular hollow sections. Journal of Constructional Steel Research, 118, 207-216.
Liew A & Gardner L (2015) Ultimate capacity of structural steel cross-sections under compression, bending and combined loading. Structures, 1, 2-11.
Theofanous M, Liew A & Gardner L (2015) Experimental study of stainless steel angles and channels in bending. Structures, 4, 80-90.
GARDNER L, WANG F & LIEW A (2011) INFLUENCE OF STRAIN HARDENING ON THE BEHAVIOR AND DESIGN OF STEEL STRUCTURES. International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics, 11(05), 855-875.
Mehrotra A, Liew A, Block P & DeJong MJ () An Integrated Modelling Approach for the Seismic Collapse Assessment of Masonry Towers. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, 1-24.

Chapters

Theofanous M, Liew A & Gardner L (2012) Ultimate capacity of stainless steel RHS subjected to combined compression and bending, Tubular Structures XIV (pp. 423-430).

Conference proceedings papers

Mehrotra A, Liew A, Block P & Dejong MJ (2021) AN INTEGRATED MODELING APPROACH THAT COMBINES ELASTIC AMPLIFICATION AND ROCKING ANALYSIS FOR SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF A MASONRY TOWER. 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS (SAHC 2021) (pp 2846-2857)
Lopez Lopez D, Roca P, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2021) A METHOD FOR THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF ARCHED REINFORCED MASONRY AND/OR CONCRETE STRUCTURES. 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTIONS (SAHC 2021) (pp 1736-1745)
Popescu M, Calvo Barentin C, Reiter L, Rippmann M, Liew A, Van Mele T, Flatt R & Block P (2018) Prototype of a thin, vaulted concrete floor using a knitted, stay-in-place formwork. Proceeding of the 1st International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication, Zurich
Méndez T, Pigram D, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2018) Full-scale prototype of a cable-net and fabric formed concrete thin-shell roof. IASS 2019 Proceedings
Wachter M, Liew A, Van Mele T & Block P (2016) Non-prismatic bending and torsion beam elements for form finding by dynamic relaxation. Proceedings of IASS Annual Symposia, Vol. 2016(16) (pp 1-10)
Buchanan C, Gardner L & Liew A (2015) The continuous strength method for circular hollow sections (pp 621-628)
Liew A, Boissonnade N, Gardner L & Nseir J (2014) Experimental study of hot-rolled rectangular hollow sections. Structural Stability Research Council Annual Stability Conference 2014, SSRC 2014 (pp 33-51)
Theofanous M, Liew A & Gardner L (2012) Ultimate capacity of stainless steel RHS subjected to combined compression and bending (pp 423-430)
Wang F, Liew A & Gardner L (2011) Exploiting strain hardening in structural steel design. Proceedings of Seventh International Conference on Advances in Steel Structures

Software / Code

Liew A & Mendez T compas_fea: A finite element analysis package for Python.
Van Mele T, Liew A, Mendez T & Rippmann M COMPAS: A framework for computational research in architecture and structures.

Theses / Dissertations

Liew A (2014) Design of structural steel elements with the Continuous Strength Method.

Preprints

Gallet A, Rigby S, Tallman T, Kong X, Hajirasouliha I, Liew A, Liu D, Chen L, Hauptmann A & Smyl D (2021) Structural engineering from an inverse problems perspective, arXiv. View this article in WRRO

Research group

Computational Mechanics & Design

Intelligent Infrastructure

Steel & Composite Structures

Potential PhD offerings: Unfortunately I am not seeking any PhD Students at this time, however please contact me if you are interested in doing a project in my research area.