Dr. Pratik Bhatt is a Senior Staff Consultant at Engineering Systems Inc. (ESi) and a licensed Professional Engineer specializing in advanced structural analysis and forensic investigation of structures affected by natural and manmade hazards.
Dr. Bhatt performs forensic investigations of structural distress, damage, construction defects, and failures of structural systems and components. His work includes field inspections, condition assessment, root-cause failure analysis, building code research and analysis, and development of repair and retrofit solutions for damaged structures using traditional or composite materials across residential, commercial, and infrastructure-related projects.
Dr. Bhatt has a strong background in engineering mechanics and nonlinear finite element modeling and is well versed in the mechanics of structures and materials at elevated temperatures. He has extensive experience in designing and executing experimental test programs, including specialized test setups, custom fixtures, and applying advanced laboratory techniques to characterize material and structural behavior under extreme loading conditions. His doctoral research focused on evaluating fire performance of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)–strengthened concrete members through fire tests and numerical modeling and developed machine learning-based tools for fire resistance prediction. He has published multiple articles in refereed journals, conference proceedings, and technical books.
At ESi, Dr. Bhatt applies this combined expertise to support complex forensic and engineering investigations, including multiple hazards performance evaluations and infrastructure resilience assessments for critical structures.
Areas of Expertise
Publications
- Machine Learning Approach for Predicting Fire Resistance of FRP-Strengthened Concrete Beams, Structural Concrete, fib CEB-FIP, November 2024
- Methodologies for Evaluating FRP-Concrete Interfacial Bond Strength at Elevated Temperatures, Fiber Reinforced Polymeric Materials and Sustainable Structures, 19-31, January 2023
- Fire Resistance Evaluation of Concrete Beams and Slabs Incorporating Natural Fiber-Reinforced Polymers, Polymers, 15 (3), 755, January 2023
- Fire hazard in Tunnels: Review, Assessment, and Mitigation strategies, The Indian Concrete Journal, Special Issue, 96(3), 13-25, January 2022
- Deep Neural Network to Predict Fire Resistance of FRP-Strengthened Beams, The Concrete Industry in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, SP-350, American Concrete Institute, 69-80, January 2021
- Performance of Insulated FRP-strengthened Concrete Flexural Members under Fire Conditions, Frontiers of Structural and Civil Engineering, 15, 177-193, January 2020