Aerik Carlton, Ph.D., P.E. - Engineer - Buildings and Structures

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Academic Credentials

Ph.D., Structural Engineering, Lehigh University, 2022
M.S., Civil Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 2013
B.S., Civil Engineering, Portland State University, 2012

Licenses & Certifications

Professional Engineer Civil, California, #C94841
Professional Engineer, Illinois, #062.075041

Additional Education & Training

Software Competencies
Structural: SAP2000, ETABS, RAM
Fire: SAFIR, Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and Smokeview, CFAST, Ozone
Blast: ProSAir, SBEDS, SBEDS-W, Wingard, ConWEP, Close-in Air-Blast (CAB)

Professional Honors

P.C. Rossin College of Engineering Doctoral Fellow
Gibson Teaching Fellow
Fritz Engineering Research Society
Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society

Professional Affiliations

American Society of Civil Engineers/Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE/SEI)
- Committee: Blast Protection of Buildings Standards
American Concrete Institute (ACI)
- Committee: ACI 216 Fire Resistance and Fire Protection of Structures
Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI)

Dr. Aerik Carlton specializes in the evaluation of buildings and other structures with respect to a variety of structural loading conditions, with an emphasis on the extreme loading scenarios of fire and explosive blast. Dr. Carlton's dissertation work evaluated normal weight structural concrete exposed to hydrocarbon fuel fire in tunnels, and included the evaluation of thermally induced explosive concrete spalling and fire resistive concrete bonded coatings. As a graduate researcher, he developed a performance-based engineering framework for structures subjected to the cascading hazards of earthquake and subsequent fire follow. In addition to structural fire engineering, he has completed computational fluid dynamics analysis for explosive loading in the confined geometries of tunnels, loading docks, mailrooms, and building lobbies.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Carlton was a consultant with Nishkian Dean where he worked on new and existing buildings, but more interestingly the design of private space launch complex facilities. At Hinman Consulting Engineers he was a blast engineering consultant where he provided anti-terrorism/force protection assessment and blast resistant design for multiple US government agencies including the: DOD, DOJ, DOS, Dept. of VA, and GSA.

He is a member of the ASCE Blast Protection of Buildings Standards committee and an associate member of the Fire Resistance and Fire Protection of Structures committee with ACI. He is a reviewer for the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities and the Transportation Research Board.

Zhu, Z., Carlton, A., Quiel, S., and Naito, C. (2023) "Objective-Level Assessment of Circular Roadway Tunnels with Reinforced Concrete Liners for Vehicle Fire Hazards," Resilient Cities and Structures, vol. 2, issue 3, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.rcns.2023.04.001
Carlton, A., Guo, Q., Ma, S., Quiel, S.E., and Naito, C.J. (2021) "Experimental Assessment of Explosive Spalling in Normal Weight Concrete Panels under High Intensity Thermal Exposure," Fire Safety Journal, vol. 134, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103677
Ouyang, Z., Carlton, A., Guo, Q., Quiel, S.E., Naito, C.J. (2020) "Blast Vulnerability of Drop Ceilings in Roadway Tunnels," ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, vol. 34, issue 6, 2020 DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001526
Guo, Q., Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., and Naito, C.J. (2020) "Stochastic Thermal Demand and Resulting Capacity Loss of Concrete Tunnel Liners Subjected to Vehicle Fires," Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, vol. 2674, issue 5, 2020, pp. 293-304. DOI: 10.1177/0361198120914612
Zhu, Z., Quiel, S.E., Carlton, A., Mueller, K.A., and Marjanishvili, S.M. (2020) "Performance-based prioritization of fire protection for steel girder overpasses in a complex highway interchange," Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, vol. 16, no. 3, 2020, pp. 394-411. DOI: 10.1080/15732479.2019.1666884
Guo, Q., Root K.J., Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., and Naito, C.J. (2019) "Framework for rapid prediction of fire-induced heat flux on concrete tunnel liners with curved ceilings," Fire Safety Journal, vol. 109, 2019. DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2019.102866
Quiel, S., Zhu, Z., Mueller, K., Carlton, A., and Marjanishvili, S. (2016) "Performance-based prioritization of fire mitigation for highway bridges," Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Structures in Fire, Princeton, NJ, pp. 776-783. ISBN: 978-1-60595-320-5
Carlton, A. and Li, Y. (2015) "Performance-Based Engineering Framework for Fire Following Earthquake," Proceedings of Structures Congress, April 23-25, pp. 1608-1618. DOI: 10.1061/9780784479117.138
Post-Earthquake Fire Hazard Task Group (2022) "Post-Earthquake Fire Assessment of Buildings: Evaluation Framework." ASCE, Reston, VA. DOI: 10.1061/9780784415993
Presentations
Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., Naito, C.J. "Explosive Spalling in Concrete Elements Under Fire: New Experiments and Analyses toward Performance-Based Design," American Concrete Institute Concrete Convention, Orlando, FL, 2022
Carlton, A., Ma, S., Quiel, S.E., Naito, C.J. "Experimental Evaluation of Tiling and Fire Protection Coatings for Normal Weight Concrete Tunnel Liners under High Intensity Thermal Exposure," Transportation Research Board, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2022
Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., Naito, C.J. "Experimental Investigation of the Relationship between Concrete Spalling under Heat Exposure and Concrete Moisture Content," ADSC International Association of Foundation Drilling, Northeast Chapter Fall Meeting, Bethlehem, PA, 2019
Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., Naito, C.J. "Experimental Investigation of the Relationship between Concrete Spalling under Heat Exposure and Concrete Moisture Content," UTC-UTI Workshop, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, 2019
Carlton, A. "Vortex Induced Vibration: Private Space Industry Launch Complex Design," Fritz Engineering Research Society, Bethlehem, PA, 2018
Carlton, A., Quiel, S.E., Mueller, K. "Comparison of Analysis Methods for Fires in Large Compartments," ASCE Structures Congress, Denver, CO, 2017
Carlton, A. and Goddard, N. "Adaptation of the Unified Facilities Criteria: DoD Security Engineering Facilities Planning Manual for Resilience Evaluation," SAME Critical Infrastructure Symposium, Charleston, SC, 2016
Carlton, A. and Hinman, E. "State of Practice for Resilience Consideration," SAME Critical Infrastructure Symposium, Arlington, VA, 2015
Carlton, A. and Li, Y. "Performance-based Engineering Framework for Fire Following Earthquake," ASCE Structures Congress, Portland, OR, 2015

Aerik Carlton

Publications

Peer Reviews

Prior Experiences