This short course is specifically designed for practicing engineers and industry professionals to deepen their understanding of fatigue and fracture design in structural steelworks. It is particularly suited for experienced design engineers, consultants, and technical specialists involved in the design, analysis, assessment, or maintenance of steel structures who seek to strengthen their competence in this critical area. Participants will gain insight into the fundamental mechanisms of fatigue crack initiation and propagation, the effects of cyclic loading, and key aspects of fracture behaviour. The course also covers material toughness and the influence of loading and environmental conditions on the risk of brittle failure.

Registration Fee

Abstract

Fatigue and fracture are critical safety considerations in steel building structures. Fatigue failure is associated with repeated loading at relatively low stress levels, such as those induced by wind and vibration, which can cause small cracks to initiate and grow over time. Once a crack initiates, it may propagate, potentially leading to rapid, catastrophic failure (fracture). This short course, based on Singapore Standards SS EN 1993-1-8, SS EN 1993-1-9, and SS EN 1993-1-10, provides participants with the necessary technical background, supported by worked examples, to better understand fatigue and fracture assessment of structural members and joints in steel structures subjected to cyclic loading. In addition, the strength and integrity assessment of cracked hollow-section joints using a fracture-mechanics approach will be demonstrated.

About the Speakers

Speaker 1: Dr Lie Seng Tjhen

Dr Lie is formerly an Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He has been lecturing in the design of steel structures using BS5950: 2000 for many years, and he was the task force leader in developing the Singapore National Annex for EC3: Part 1-9: Fatigue. His main research interests have been in the field of fatigue and fracture of welded joints since his earlier time as a research student at UMIST in U.K. The research interest is focused on damage and fracture mechanics, developing failure assessment diagram for cracked welded structures, in particular its direct practical application to fatigue and fracture assessment of cracked onshore/offshore welded structures.

For the past decades, he has also been associated with research related to welding technology, weld defects, size effects, weld ability of high strength steels and residual stresses. He is a Senior Member of The Welding Institute and a registered Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council, UK, and he had secured several industrial funded projects from Singapore Maritime Institute. In this related research field, he had published more than 120 journal and conference papers.

Course Outline

Registration

Click here for registration

• Please register by 3 June 2026. 
• The payment details/link will be sent separately, after we have confirmed your registration. 
• Please note that there is no refund of fees for cancellation.