Effects of Soil Variability and Soil-Atmosphere Interaction. A Physical Modeling Approach.
Effects of soil variability and soil-atmosphere interaction. A physical modeling approach.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Abstract: Soils are highly heterogeneous materials which mechanical behavior is controlled by a wide variety of processes, many of which are directly related with environmental fluctuations. This seminar presents novel physical methods, tested on a geotechnical centrifuge, performed to assess the effect of the local spatial variability of soil properties (modeled using a clay 3D printer) on the overall behavior of the soil mass. The obtained results show useful insights that could be taken into account to consider the inhomogeneity of ground improvement methods. Additionally, a thorough study on soil-atmosphere interaction is presented, focusing on the effect of gigantic desiccation cracks on soil deposits, caused by a set of soil-atmosphere phenomena.
Bio: Bernardo Caicedo, PhD is professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of the Andes (Bogota-Colombia). Dr. Caicedo has over 30 years of experience in design, analysis and modeling in pavements and geotechnics. Graduate in Civil Engineering at the Cauca University in Colombia (1986), DEA in geotechnics and structures, Ecole Centrale de Paris (1987), PhD in Geotechnics and Structures Ecole Centrale de Paris (1991).
Member of the editorial board of Geotechnique Letters, Acta Geotechnica and the Journal of Transportation Geotechnics. Referee for several international journals. Supervisor of 95 master thesis, 12 doctoral thesis in Uniandes. Leader of more than 65 research projects in pavements and geotechnics in Uniandes. Editor of one book and author of 80 conference papers and 36 journal papers. He can be reached at [email protected]