Gerhard Durandt was awarded best presentation for his research paper at the South African Conference of Computational and Applied Mechanics 2025.
Gerhard Durandt is a Junior Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Laboratory Engineer for the Sound and Vibration Research group. Gerhard worked in the fluid power industry prior to his employment at Stellenbosch University where he gained valuable industry experience. This allowed him to register as a Professional Engineer (Pr Eng) with ECSA in 2024.
Gerhard is currently enrolled for a PhD in Mechatronic Engineering. The title of the thesis is “Fatigue life estimation of the SA Agulhas II’s hull structure with virtual measurement and hybrid modelling”. The focus of the research is to develop modelling strategies to enable virtual strain measurement of a full-scale industrial structure from “easy to install” accelerometers. This research is an enabler for digital twin technologies in the maritime sector and aims to enhance operational and strategic decision-making by providing insight in terms of the remaining useful life of a structure for operators and owners. In addition, this research will develop methodologies for retrofitting digital twin services to vessels that are already in operation.
A laboratory scale application of the virtual measurement methodology was presented at SACAM 2025 where the displacement of a beam was estimated from an array of accelerometers. A finite element (FE) model of a beam was created and calibrated with experimentally determined vibration data to ensure the modal parameters align as closely as possible. Next, the mass, damping and stiffness matrices could be derived from the calibrated FE model.
Once the system parameters were available, the beam was represented in state-space format. A Kalman filter served as a response estimator that integrated the FE model and measured acceleration data along the length of the beam to estimate the displacement. The model’s predictions show a good correlation with measured displacement for both impulsive and random loading conditions. The next step in this research is enable strain prediction from the measured acceleration data and to investigate the potential pitfall for full-scale application.
Gerhard is an avid runner in his spare time and regularly participates in local road running events for the Durbanville Athletic Club (Durbac). He is currently training to run alongside his wife at this year’s Two Oceans Marathon and Comrades Marathon. Runners are known for a never-ending hunger, and accordingly Gerhard enjoys cooking and making interesting food.
Asked about the conference and his experience as a delegate, he says “I attended the 14th South African Conference on Computational and Applied Mechanics (SACAM 2025) from 21-23 January 2025. The conference is held every second year under the auspices of the South Africa Association for Computational and Applied Mechanics (SAAM). This year, the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) hosted the conference on their Braamfontein campus in Johannesburg.”
“SACAM provides a forum for presenting and discussing the latest developments in applied mechanics. It aims to bring together scientists, engineers and applied mathematicians from academia and industry to encourage scientific exchange of ideas and opportunities in applied mechanics. In addition, SACAM is student orientated an encourages postgraduate students to participate in this unique opportunity.”
“I found the presentation of two keynote speakers very interesting. The first address was from Prof. Schalk Kok (University of Pretoria) who presented on the field of reduced order surrogate modelling, which has links to my own PhD research. The second speaker was Dr. Quinn Reynolds (Mintek) who talked about the complexities in modelling and design of pyrometallurgical processes in the South African context. This was particularly interesting in terms of South Africa’s role in mineral processing within the global context.”
“I received the Best Student Presentation Award at the SACAM 2025 conference. This award was presented to four students who best presented their work at the conference.”
“I was surprised and honoured when my name was announced. It felt great to share some of the work that I am doing for my PhD and it is encouraging that the SACAM community found it interesting. This motivates me to continue with my research and bolsters my resolve to publish and present on an international level.”
“I am very proud of my fellow SU students. They all presented very well and produced outstanding work” says Gerhard who we are equally proud of.
