H. Ronald Riggs

Professor and Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Office: Holmes Hall 384
Phone: (808) 956-6566
E-mail: riggs@hawaii.edu
Personal Homepage: click here

Areas of Specialty and Research Interest:

  • Primary research interests include fluid-structure interaction, wave and tsunami loading on structures, hydroelasticity, real-time monitoring of structural response, and computational mechanics.

Education:

  • Ph.D., Structural Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1981
  • M.S., Structural Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1976
  • B.S., Civil Engineering, California State University, Chico, 1975

Professional Registration:

  • Registered Professional Engineer (P.E.), Civil Engineering, in Hawaii, license #11457

Experience:

  • Assistant, Associate and Full Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1987 - present. Chair, 2003 - present.
  • Cooperating Graduate Faculty, Department of Ocean & Resource Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
  • Senior Research Engineer, Risers and Terminals Section, Exxon Production Research Company, Houston, TX, 1984 - 1987.
  • Research Engineer, Division of Nuclear Power Plant Engineering focussing on seismic soil-structure interaction, Hochtief AG, Frankfurt and Main, Germany, 1982 - 1984

Courses Taught:

  • CEE 271: Applied Mechanics II: Dynamics
  • CEE 370: Mechanics of Materials
  • CEE 381: Structural Analysis
  • CEE 681: Theory of Modern Structural Analysis
  • CEE 682: Numerical Methods in Engineering
  • CEE 684: Nonlinear Structural Analysis
  • CEE 686: Finite Elements in Structures

Professional Activities:

  • Assistant Editor, ASCE Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering.
  • Associate Technical Editor, ASME Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, 1999-2004.
  • 28th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference Co-chair, Honolulu, HI, May 31 - June 5, 2009.
  • Member, International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress (ISSC) Special Task Committee on Very Large Floating Structures, 2003-2006.
  • USA Co-Chair, VLFS '03, International Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, Tokyo, 2003.
  • Organizing Committee, VLFS '99, International Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, Honolulu, 1999.
  • Organizing and Executive Committee, VLFS '96, International Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, Japan, 1996.
  • Co-organizer, VLFS '91, First International Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, sponsored by NSF, April 24-26, 1991, Honolulu, HI.

Awards and Honors:

  • Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2002.
  • Achievement Award, Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Division, ASME, 1997.
  • NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellow, NASA Langley Research Center, Langley Va., 1992.

Research Grants:

  1. Riggs, H.R., Robertson, I.N., Cheung, K.F., Yim, S.C., and Young, Y.L., 'NEESR-SG: Development of Performance Based Tsunami Engineering, PBTE,' funded by NSF, September 15. 2005 - August 31, 2009.
  2. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.), 'Extension to Large Displacements of the Inverse FEM for Full-Field Reconstruction of Deformations in Plates and Shells,' funded by NASA, February 2005 - February 2007.
  3. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.), Ian Robertson (co-P.I.) Si-Hwan Park (co-P.I.), 'Instrumenting and Monitoring the Performance of the FRP Shear Strengthening of the Salt Lake Boulevard Bridge,' FHWA Innovative Bridge Research and Construction program, November 2003 - October 2008.
  4. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.), Ian Robertson (co-P.I.) Si-Hwan Park (co-P.I.), 'Use of Advanced Composites for Hawaii Bridges with Application to Renovation of Historic Bridges,' funded by Hawaii Dept. of Transportation, May 2001 - April 2003.
  5. Horst Brandes (PI) and H.R. Riggs (co-PI), 'Modeling of Sediment Mechanics for Mine Burial Prediction,' funded by Office of Naval Research, February 2001 - January 2003.
  6. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.) and Ertekin, R.C. (Co-P.I.), 'Analytical Investigation of the Wave-Induced Response of Very Large Floating Structures,' funded by National Science Foundation, January 1997 - June 2000.
  7. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.) 'Stress Recovery and Error Estimation for 3-D Shell Structures,' funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), August 1996 - April 2000.
  8. Ertekin, R.C. (P.I.) and Riggs, H.R. (Co-P.I.), 'Evaluation of Pneumatically-Stabilized Platforms' funded by DoD Advanced Research Projects Agency via Float, Inc., September 1997 - November 1998.
  9. Riggs, H.R. (P.I.) 'Improved Stress Recovery and Error Estimation in Finite Element Analysis,' funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), March 1993 - September 1996.
  10. Ertekin, R.C. (P.I.) and Riggs, H.R. (Co-P.I.), 'Experimental and Theoretical Fluid-Structure Analysis of Very Large Floating Structures,' funded by National Science Foundation, March 1993 - August 1996.
  11. Seidl, L. (P.I.), Ertekin, R.C. (Co-P.I.), Riggs, H.R. (Co-P.I.) and Wilkens, G. (Co-P.I.), 'Analysis of Very Large, Stable Floating Structures,' funded by National Science Foundation, July 1989 - December 1991.

Selected Publications:

  1. Robertson, I.N., Riggs, H.R., Mohammed, A., 2008, 'Experimental results of tsunami bore forces on structures,' Proc., 27th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, paper OMAE2008-57525, 9 pp.
  2. Riggs, H.R., Suzuki, H., Ertekin, R.C., Kim, J.W., Iijima, K., 2008, 'Comparison of hydroelastic computer codes based on the ISSC VLFS benchmark,' Ocean Engineering, Vol. 35, pp. 589-597.
  3. Riggs, H.R., Robertson, I.N., Cheung, K.F., Pawlak, G., Young, Y.L., Yim, S.C.S., 2008, 'Experimental simulation of tsunami hazards to buildings and bridges,' Proc., NSF CMMI Engineering Research and Innovation Conference, Paper No. 0530759.
  4. Suzuki, H., Riggs, H.R., Fujikubo, M., Shugar, T.A., Seto, H., Yasuzawa, Y., Bhattacharya, B., Hudson, D.A., Shin, H., 2007, 'Very large floating structures,' Proc., 26th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, paper OMAE2007-29758.
  5. Robertson, I.N., Yim, S., Riggs, H.R., Young, Y.L., 2007, 'Coastal bridge performance during Hurricane Katrina,' Proc., Structural Engineering, Mechanics, and Computation 3, pp. 1864-1870.
  6. Robertson, I.N., Riggs, H.R., Yim, S.C.S., Young, Y.L., 2007, 'Lessons from Hurricane Katrina storm surge on bridges and buildings,' Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, Vol. 133, pp. 463-483.
  7. Riggs, H.R., 2007, 'JWPCOE Special Issue: Tsunami Engineering (Introduction),' Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, Vol. 133, pp. 381.
  8. Riggs, H.R., Niimi, K.M., Huang, L.L., 2007, 'Two benchmark problems for three-dimensional, linear hydroelasticity,' Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, Vol. 129, pp. 149-157.
  9. Paczkowski, K. and Riggs, H.R., 2007. 'An inverse finite element strategy to recover full-field, large displacements from strain measurements,' Proc., 26th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, paper OMAE2007-29730.
  10. Pedro, H.T.C., Leung, K.-W., Kobayashi, M.H., and Riggs, H.R., 2007, 'Numerical Study of the Wave Impact on Structural Elements Using Large Eddy Simulation,' Proc., 26th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, paper OMAE2007-29729.
  11. Robertson, I., Riggs, H.R., Yim, S. and Young, Y.L., 2006. Lessons from Katrina, ASCE Civil Engineering magazine, April, pp. 56-63.
  12. Riggs, H.R., Suzuki, H., Yasuzawa, Y., Kim, J.W. and Ertekin, R.C., 2006. Hydroelastic response of the ISSC benchmark, Proc., Fourth International Conference on Hydroelasticity in Marine Technology, pp. 207-213.
  13. Huang, L.L. and Riggs, H.R., 2005. Development of a New Interfacing Strategy for Fluid-Structure Interaction, Engineering for the Maritime Environment, Vol. 219, pp. 131-148.
  14. Riggs, H.R. and Huang, L.L., 2005. A benchmark problem for three-dimensional linear hydroelasticity, Proc., 24th International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference, paper OMAE2005-67418.
  15. Liu, Y.J. and Riggs, H.R., 2005. The MIN-N Family of Triangular Mindlin Plate Elements with Application to a 6-Node Triangle, Structural Engineering and Mechanics Journal, Vol. 19(5), pp. 297-320.
  16. Huang, L. and Riggs, H.R., 2004. An Interfacing Strategy for Fluid-Structure Interaction, 6th World Congress on Computational Mechanics, Beijing, CD vol. 2, paper R-328.
  17. Huang. L.L. and Riggs, H.R, 2003. Displacement and Pressure Transfer in Hydroelastic Response Analysis of Offshore Structures, Proc., 4th International Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, Tokyo, pp. 57-64.
  18. Ertekin, R.C. and Riggs, H.R., 2003. Static and Dynamic Analyses of a Moored Causeway, Proc., International Symposium on Ocean Space Utilization Technology, Tokyo, pp. 101-110.
  19. Huang, L.L. and Riggs, H.R., 2003. Mapping between Structure and Fluid Meshes in Hydroelastic Analysis of Floating Structures, 22nd International Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering Conference. ASME, Cancun, Mexico, CDROM-OMAE2003-37303.
  20. Ertekin, R.C., Riggs, H.R., Kim, J.W. and Demirbilek, Z., 2001. Hydroelastic Analysis of Floating Bridges in Current, 20th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering. ASME, Rio de Janeiro, CDROM-OMAE01-5029.
  21. Riggs, H.R. and Ertekin, R.C., 2001. Hydroelastic-Based Predictions of MOB Model Tests, 20th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering. ASME, Rio de Janeiro, CDROM-OMAE01-5028.
  22. Liu, J., Riggs, H.R. and Tessler, A., 2000. A Four-Node, Shear-Deformable Shell Element Developed via Explicit Kirchhoff Constraints. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol. 49(8), pp. 1065-1086.
  23. Riggs, H.R., Ertekin, R.C. and Mills, T.R.J., 2000. A Comparative Study of RMFC and Finite Element Models for the Wave-Induced Response of a MOB. Marine Structures, Vol. 13(4/5), pp. 217-232.
  24. Huang, L. L. and Riggs, H. R. 2000. The Hydrostatic Stiffness of Flexible Floating Structures for Linear Hydroelasticity, Marine Structures, Vol. 13(2), pp. 91-106.
  25. Yazdani, A.A., Riggs, H.R., and Tessler, A. 2000. Stress Recovery and Error Estimation for Shell Structures, Intl. J. for Numerical Methods in Engr., Vol. 47, pp. 1825- 1840.
  26. Riggs, H. R. and Ertekin, R.C. 1999. Response Characteristics of Serially-Connected Semisubmersibles, J. of Ship Research, Vol. 43(4), pp. 229-240.
  27. Riggs, H. R., Ertekin, R. C. and Mills, T. 1999. Impact of Stiffness on the Response of a Multi- Module Mobile Offshore Base, J. of Offshore and Polar Engr., Vol. 9(2), pp. 126- 133.
  28. Tessler, A., Riggs, H.R., and Dambach, M. 1999. A Novel Four-Node Quadrilateral Smoothing Element for Stress Enhancement and Error Estimation, Intl. J. for Numerical Methods in Engr., Vol. 44(10), pp. 1527-1543.
  29. Tessler, A., Riggs, H.R., Freese, C.E., and Cook, G.M. 1998. An Improved Variational Method for Finite Element Stress Recovery and a Posteriori Error Estimation, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engr., Vol. 155, pp. 15-30.
  30. Riggs, H.R., Tessler, A., and Chu, H. 1997. C1-Continuous Stress Recovery in Finite Element Analysis, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engr., Vol. 143(3/4), pp. 299- 316.
  31. Wang, S., R. C. Ertekin, and Riggs, H.R. 1997. Computationally Efficient Techniques in Hydroelasticity Analysis of Very Large Floating Structures, Computers & Structures, Vol. 62(4), pp. 603-610.
  32. Liu, X. Q., Ertekin, R. C., and Riggs, H.R. 1996. Vibration of a Free-Free Beam under Tensile Axial Loads, J. of Sound and Vibration, Vol. 190(2), pp. 273-282.
  33. Ertekin, R. C., Wang, S. Q., Riggs, H.R., and Che, X.L. 1995. On the Application of the Haskind-Hanaoka Relations to Hydroelasticity Problems, Marine Structures, Vol. 8, pp. 617-629.
  34. Tessler, A., Riggs, H.R. and Macy, S.C. 1994. Application of a Variational Method for Computing Smooth Stresses, Stress Gradients, and Error Estimation in Finite Element Analysis, in The Mathematics of Finite Elements and Applications, J.R. Whiteman, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., pp. 189-198.
  35. Che, X.L., Riggs, H.R. and Ertekin, R.C. 1994. Composite 2D/3D Hydroelastic Analysis Method for Floating Structures, ASCE J. of Engr. Mechanics, Vol. 120(7), pp. 1499-1520.
  36. Tessler, A., Riggs, H.R. and Macy, S.C. 1994. A Variational Method for Finite Element Stress Recovery and Error Estimation, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engr., Vol. 111, pp. 369-382.
  37. Riggs, H.R. and Ertekin, R.C. 1993. Approximate Methods for Dynamic Response of Multi- Module Floating Structures, Marine Structures, Vol. 6, pp. 117-141.
  38. Wu, Y.S., Wang, D.Y., Riggs, H.R., and Ertekin, R.C. 1993. Composite Singularity Distribution Method with Application to Hydroelasticity, Marine Structures, Vol. 6, pp. 143-163.
  39. Ertekin, R.C., Riggs, H.R., Che, X.L., and Du, S.X. 1993. Efficient Methods of Hydroelastic Analysis of Very Large Floating Structures, J. of Ship Research , Vol. 37(1), pp. 58-76.
  40. Riggs, H.R. and Leraand, T. 1993. A Robust Element for Static Analysis of Marine Cables, Proc., 3rd Intl. Offshore and Polar Engr. Conf., Singapore, pp. 357-363.
  41. Wilkins, G.A., Ertekin, R.C., and Riggs, H.R., editors 1992. Future Directions in VLFS Research and Development, Vol. 2 of Proc., First Intl. Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, Honolulu, 41 pp.
  42. Ertekin, R.C. and Riggs, H.R., editors 1991. Proc., First Intl. Workshop on Very Large Floating Structures, April 24-26, Honolulu, 436 pp.
  43. Riggs, H.R. and Leraand, T. 1991. Efficient Static Analysis and Design of Flexible Risers, ASME Trans. J. of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engr., Vol. 113(3), pp. 235- 240.
  44. Wang, D., Riggs, H.R., and Ertekin, R.C. 1991. Three-Dimensional Hydroelastic Response of a Very Large Floating Structure, Intl. J. of Offshore and Polar Engr., Vol. 1(4), pp. 307-316.
  45. Riggs, H.R. 1990. A Substructure Analogy for Plasticity, Computers & Structures, Vol. 37(4), pp. 405-412.
  46. Riggs, H.R. and Powell, G.H. 1990. Tangent Constitutive Matrices for Inelastic Finite Element Analysis, Intl. J. for Numerical Methods in Engr., Vol. 29, pp. 1193-1203.

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