Mostapha Boulbibane

Design/methodology/approach This research has measured, using National Student Survey (NSS) criteria, student experiences on an interdisciplinary project on a civil engineering programme. It benchmarks the quality of learning and student understanding and perceptions of learning. The method is based upon a literature review and questionnaire survey of students.
Purpose In line with business goals of customer satisfaction, higher education institutions of learning consider excellent student experience a priority. Teaching and learning are important aspects of satisfaction that are monitored annually by universities using tools such as the NSS. NSS results are useful for educational planning and informing consumer choices. This research measured undergraduate student experiences on an interdisciplinary project using the NSS framework. Hinged on diversity, the purpose was to investigate whether full time, part time and degree apprenticeship students with varied work experience enhance their learning studying together on an interdisciplinary project.
Findings Results indicate good amounts of peer influence on learning in a simulated interdisciplinary team setting supported by a mix of diverse work experience in students’ background.
Originality/value Sections of the NSS are extended with additional questions to capture the impact that full-time, part-time and degree apprenticeship study modes, closely associated with students’ background of job experience, have on teaching and learning.

This research aims to investigate the effect of introducing different mineral admixtures on the mechanical properties of concrete. The research is focused on optimizing the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, looking in particular at how factors such as slump, unit weight, air entrancement, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity are affected by different mineral admixtures in a concrete mix. Different mineral admixtures are used, namely silica fume, limestone and ultra-fine gypsum, and for the tests each mineral admixture replaced 25 % of the cement. The paper also compares the performance of the fresh and hardened properties of concrete.

The rutting of flexible pavements during their exploitation is considered to be one of the main problems in UK as well as worldwide. It is a serious mode of distress alongside fatigue in bituminous pavements that may lead to premature failure, as indicated by permanent deformation or rut depth along the wheel load path, and results in early and costly rehabilitation. This kind of pavement distress makes a negative impact to the serviceability characteristics of the flexible pavement, to the residual life of pavement structure and also to the safety and ride quality for traffic. Two design methods have been used to control rutting: one to limit the vertical compressive strain on the top of subgrade and the other to limit rutting to a tolerable amount usually around “12 mm”. Although experimental data and practical experience have been introduced into these design methods through empirical parameters, there is not a simple relationship between the elastic strain and the long-term plastic behaviour of pavement materials. This paper describes a method based on the kinematic shakedown theorem for constructing a mathematical model to predict the long-term behaviour of pavement structures under the action of repeated and cyclic loadings imposed by moving traffic. This method seeks the mechanism from within a class of mechanisms that minimises the shakedown limit load for pavement structures consisting of layers of Mohr-Coulomb materials. The model differs from extant models, in that the cyclic nature of the loading on a pavement is recognised from the outset, and the current method which is based upon foundation analysis, is replaced by a procedure employing shakedown theory that features the capabilities and applications of the developed technique for assessing rutting in flexible pavements. The basic concepts are outlined together with the most recent calculations of the critical design shakedown load. The influence of the design parameters such as, the strength, stiffness and depth of the granular base-course material as well as the consequences of traffic loading (number of equivalent standard axel loads – ESAL’s) are discussed.