Research and expertise
My research mission is to promote innovation in Sustainable Lightweight Structures, with a particular focus on proposing low-carbon resilient structural systems, optimizing key structural performance criteria for hazardous and non-hazardous environments, and developing intelligent design tools for structures.
Throughout my research career, I have published over 50 articles in leading academic journals and international refereed conferences, and successfully secured a number of research grants as Principal or Co-investigator. I have over 8 years of industry experience in the UK and the Middle East as a registered Chartered Engineer.
I welcome enquiries from candidates who wish to study for a PhD in the areas of:
Thin-Walled Structures, Lightweight Steel Systems, Seismic Performance-Based Design, Steel-Timber Composite Structures, and AI-Based Design and Optimisation.
Current research activity
- Cold-formed steel eaves connection in portal frames: behavior and design (BW-Industries)
- Structural performance and optimisation of CFS elements with openings (PhD project funded by the University of Sheffield)
Recently completed research projects
- New generation of demountable resilient cold-formed steel connections (EPSRC Early Career Research Fellowship)
- Behaviour of sheathed cold-formed steel stud wall systems under in-plane and out-of-plane loading (PhD project funded by Turkish Government)
- Lateral performance of sheathed stud wall panels (Funded by CovSteel)
- Behaviour and design of cold-formed steel members subjected to combined axial compressive load and bending (PhD project funded by the University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship)
Recent publications
- Yilmaz F, Becque J, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I (2023) Experimental investigation of the behaviour and capacity of sheathed cold-formed steel stud walls under inward flexural loading. Thin-Walled Structures 192, 111048. Access link
- Powell E, Mojtabaei SM, Liew A, Hajirasouliha I (2023) Shear strength design of cold-formed steel channel sections with web openings. Engineering Structures 291, 116426. Access link
- Hasanali M, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Clifton GC, Lim JBP (2023) More accurate design equations for cold-formed steel members subjected to combined axial compressive load and bending. Thin-Walled Structures 185, 110588. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Becque J, Hajirasouliha I, Khandan R (2023) Predicting the buckling behaviour of thin-walled structural elements using machine learning methods. Thin-Walled Structures 184, 110518. Access link
- Yilmaz F, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Becque J (2023) Behaviour and performance of OSB-sheathed cold-formed steel stud wall panels under combined vertical and seismic loading. Thin-Walled Structures 183, 110419. Access link
- Hasanali M, Roy K, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Clifton GC, Lim JBP (2022) A critical review of cold-formed steel seismic resistant systems: Recent developments, challenges and future directions. Thin-Walled Structures 180, 109953. Access link
- Öztürk F, Mojtabaei SM, Şentürk M, Pul S, Hajirasouliha I (2022) Buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel sigma and lipped channel beam–column members. Thin-Walled Structures 173, 108963. Access link
- Hasanali M, Mojtabaei SM, Clifton GC, Hajirasouliha I, Torabian S, Lim JBP (2022) Capacity and design of cold-formed steel warping-restrained beam-column elements. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 190, 107139. Access link
- Papargyriou I, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Becque J, Pilakoutas K (2022) Cold-formed steel beam-to-column bolted connections for seismic applications. Thin-Walled Structures 172, 108876. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Ye J (2021) Optimisation of cold-formed steel beams for best seismic performance in bolted moment connections. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 181, 106621. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Becque J, Hajirasouliha I (2021) Structural size optimization of single and built-up cold-formed steel beam-column members. Journal of Structural Engineering 147 (4), 04021030. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Becque J, Hajirasouliha I (2021) Behavior and design of cold-formed steel bolted connections subjected to combined actions. Journal of Structural Engineering 147 (4), 04021013. Access link
- Parastesh H, Mojtabaei SM, Taji H, Hajirasouliha I, Sabbagh AB (2021) Constrained optimization of anti-symmetric cold-formed steel beam-column sections. Engineering Structures 228, 111452. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Becque J, Hajirasouliha I (2020) Local buckling in cold-formed steel moment-resisting bolted connections: Behavior, capacity, and design. Journal of Structural Engineering 146 (9), 04020167. Access link
- Phan DT, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Lau TL, Lim JBP (2020) Design and optimization of cold-formed steel sections in bolted moment connections considering bimoment. Journal of Structural Engineering 146 (8), 04020153. Access link
- Ye J, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Pilakoutas K (2020) Efficient design of cold-formed steel bolted-moment connections for earthquake resistant frames. Thin-walled structures Access link
- Phan DT, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Ye J, Lim JBP (2020) Coupled element and structural level optimisation framework for cold-formed steel frames. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 168, 105867. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Ye J, Hajirasouliha I (2019) Development of optimum cold-formed steel beams for serviceability and ultimate limit states using Big Bang-Big Crunch optimisation. Engineering Structures 195, 172-181 Access link
- Ye J, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I (2019) Seismic performance of cold-formed steel bolted moment connections with bolting friction-slip mechanism. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 156, 122-136. Access link
- Ye J, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I, Shepherd P, Pilakoutas K (2018) Strength and deflection behaviour of cold-formed steel back-to-back channels. Engineering Structures 177, 641-654. Access link
- Ye J, Mojtabaei SM, Hajirasouliha I (2018) Local-flexural interactive buckling of standard and optimised cold-formed steel columns. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 144, 106-118. Access link
- Ye J, Becque J, Hajirasouliha I, Mojtabaei SM, Lim JBP (2018) Development of optimum cold-formed steel sections for maximum energy dissipation in uniaxial bending. Engineering Structures 161, 55-67. Access link
- Mojtabaei SM, Kabir MZ, Hajirasouliha I, Kargar M (2018) Analytical and experimental study on the seismic performance of cold-formed steel frames. Journal of Constructional Steel Research 143, 18-31. Access link
Teaching
I contribute to learning and teaching activities across the School programmes including:
Undergraduate
- Structural Forms and Stress Analysis
- Design of Concrete and Masonry Structures
- Integrated Design Project 1
- Integrated Design Project 2
- Teamwork Design Project
Postgraduate
- Supervision of dissertations on topics aligned with my research interests
Enterprise
Recently completed projects
- Lateral performance of high masts with irregular shapes (Abacus)
Consultancies
- Assessment of bearing capacity in cold-formed steel (CFS) Connections (BW-Industries)
- Optimum design of thin-walled steel channel sections (EOS Framing)
Profile
I graduated with distinction in Structural Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), a renowned technical university in the Middle East. In 2015, I received the EPSRC Doctoral Prize Scholarship at the University of Sheffield, enabling me to pursue a PhD in optimum design of cold-formed steel structures.
After completing my PhD, I embarked on a path in academia and research, taking up two Post-Doctoral roles in Structural Engineering at the University of Cambridge and the University of Northampton. In 2021, I returned to the University of Sheffield, having successfully secured an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship for my research project on the New Generation of Demountable Resilient Cold-Formed Steel Connections. Following my Lectureship position in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Aston University for about two years, I joined Loughborough University as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Structural Engineering in 2023.
Professional affiliations
- Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
- Member of Tehran Construction Engineering Organization (TCEO)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
- Member of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)
Awards
- Royal Society International Exchange (£12,000), New Generation of Sustainable Lightweight Cold-Formed Steel Structures, 2023
- Pedagogical Research Grant (£5,000), Comparison of approaches in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Aston University, 2023
- British Council Reconnect Travel Grant (£12,000), New Generation of Resilient Modular Constructions in Hazardous Environments, 2022
- EPSRC Doctoral Prize Scholarship, University of Sheffield, 2015
- Best paper award – International Conference on Architecture, Structure and Civil Engineering, Turkey, 2014
External activities
- Editorial board member, International Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology
- Editorial board member, Journal of Data Science and Intelligent Systems (JDSIS)
- Guest editor of Journal of Buildings, Special Issue: High-Performance Steel Structures
- Technical reviewer of the leading journals in Structural Engineering Journal of Constructional Steel Research, Thin-Walled Structures, Engineering Structures and Structural Engineering (ASCE), Construction and Building Materials
Key collaborators
My research and enterprise activities are conducted with a range of academic and stakeholder partners, including:
- Universities: Sheffield, Cambridge, Imperial College, Edinburgh, Derby, Auckland, Hong Kong Metropolitan, Western Australia, Nottingham (Malaysia)
- Industrial partners: UK steel industries