Dr. F. Kavoura

Florentia obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Houston where she performed experimental and analytical research on the performance of steel column to base-plate connections. Her project was funded by the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) of the United States and her research findings led to a more economical steel frame design. She also served as a Teaching Assistant in several undergraduate and graduate-level classes and participated in outreach activities focused on exposing high school students to engineering and research.

During her Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at The University of Texas at Austin, she conducted research at the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory (FSEL) on an experimental program that included the design and performance of full-scale experiments on steel breakaway base connections which aims to generate resilient wayside structures. She also performed research at the Texas Seismological Network (TexNet) on earthquake engineering parameters from earthquakes that occurred in Texas.

Education

Dr. Kavoura is involved in the following courses:

• CIE 4115 Steel Structures 2
• CIE 4121 Steel Structures 3
• CTB 2220 Concrete and Steel Structures
• CIE 4281 Building Structures 2

Key publications and technical reports

Kavoura F., Engelhardt M., Helwig T. and Moya S.A. (2020). “Static Tests on Steel Breakaway Connections”, Technical report submitted to: Protection Engineering Consultants, Part of the project: DOT SBIR- 17.1-FR3-002 - Resilient Wayside Structures and Passenger Car Survivability, Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Austin.

Kavoura F., Savvaidis A. and Rathje E. (2020). “Determination of Local Magnitude for Earthquakes Recorded from the Texas Seismological Network (TexNet)”, Seismological Research Letters, doi.org/10.1785/0220190366.

Kavoura F., Engelhardt M. and Helwig T. (2019). “Slip Tests of Plates with Zinc Cold Galvanizing Paint”, Technical report submitted to: Protection Engineering Consultants, Part of the project: DOT SBIR- 17.1-FR3-002 - Resilient Wayside Structures and Passenger Car Survivability, Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Department, The University of Texas at Austin.

Kavoura F. Gencturk B. and Dawood M. (2018). “Evaluation of Existing Provisions for Design of “Pinned” Column Base-Plate Connections”, Journal of Constructional Steel Research, Vol. 148, pages 233-258, doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2018.05.030

Kavoura F. Gencturk B., Dawood M., and Hosseini F. (2018). “Behavior of Column to Foundation Connections in Low-Rise Metal Buildings Under Simulated Seismic Loading”, 16th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering (16ECEE), Thessaloniki, Greece.

Kavoura F., Gencturk B. and Dawood M. (2017). “Reversed Cyclic Behavior of Column-to-Foundation Connections in Low-Rise Metal Buildings”, Journal of Structural Engineering (ASCE), doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0001821