Geo-Engineering Expert Group
The Geotechnics group comprises academic staff who give expert witness testimony in geotechnical legal actions, while research and industrial contracts have been obtained with a range of clients, including EPSRC, NERC, BNFL, CEN (Eurocodes), various international consultants and the oil industry. Well-supported laboratories are maintained and professional testing services are provided, including specialist equipment, controlled environments, sample investigation and reporting.
The Group is continually seeking high calibre students to carry out PhD research in all aspects of Geotechnical Engineering
Group members
Group Leader: Dr Pauleen Lane
Membership: Dr Hossam Abuel-Naga, Dr William Craig, Dr M Ahmad Syed, Mr Ian Whyte
There are four main research areas:
- Centrifuge Modelling
- Environmental Geomechanics Waste Management
- Numerical Modelling
- Risk and Variability
Centrifuge Modelling
Since its construction in the early 1970s, the Peter W. Rowe Centrifuge Laboratory has remained one of the world's major experimental facilities. Current research projects involve traditional civil engineering and wider environmental topics.
Ground improvement and reinforcement work continues in the areas of soil nailing, ground anchorage and innovative dynamic compaction. Offshore geotechnical work continues with studies of the lifting of seabed structures, and of restraint against vertical buckling for buried pipelines and controlled lateral buckling of unburied pipes, both under conditions of thermal expansion.
Environmental Geomechanics Waste Management
Research is carried out in collaboration with colleagues in biological sciences, chemistry and earth sciences. Within the Geotechnics Division, our efforts link the 3 research areas listed above.
Physical modelling, at meso scale and simulated field scale in the centrifuge, is a central activity for investigating the fate of contaminants in the ground. Current research focuses on the behaviour of inorganic and radio-nuclide contaminants, in both saturated and unsaturated soils, the kinematics of anthropologically-affected deep brine aquifers, and the effect of bacterial growth on the conductivity and sorption equilibria in aquifers. Research is being initiated into the mechanisms controlling the release and natural attenuation of arsenic from hydrous ferrous oxides in sediments and the effect of farming methods on pesticide attenuation in aquifers. Meanwhile, landfill engineering, and the strategic management of solid waste from urban and industrial sources, are growing activities within the Division, including the studies of various geo-synthetics. In the area of waste management, work is in hand relating to the effects of leachates on the properties of geosynthetic clay liners and on management practices in Nigeria. Other aspects of landfill engineering and of waste treatment (including recycling and composting) have been subject to research at the Masters degree level.
Numerical Modelling
From a numerical standpoint, most geotechnical problems are large. That is, they are usually 3-dimensional, they are often physically large, and, for stability assessments, they often involve localised zones requiring detailed numerical attention.
Research into iterative solution techniques and parallel computing has meant that problems requiring millions of elements may now be solved, while research into adaptive mesh refinement has enabled the automatic generation of efficient finite element meshes. Advanced visualisation techniques, especially for 3-d problems, have also been developed. Applications include excavations, tunnelling, embankment construction, slopes, foundations, retaining structures and offshore structures.
Risk and Variability
This research focuses on the fact that soil is a spatially variable material, with properties represented by statistical distributions, rather than single deterministic values. For stability assessments this leads to reliability, the probability that failure will not occur, rather than a single factor of safety, for which there is no information regarding probability of failure.
Current research includes the development of strategies for the statistical characterisation of insitu data, including spatial effects, and of design protocols for the required intensity of insitu testing. Research applications include liquefaction potential, underwater slope stability, the formation of geological structures and contaminant transport in groundwater flow. In particular, stochastic modelling is being used to derive reliability-based characteristic values satisfying the requirements of Eurocode 7.