A complete solution of the internal erosion problem for granular media

Summary

One of the most common mechanisms for the failure of Earth structures is via internal erosion, where fine particles are washed out of the material by the action of water. This project will couple together recent advancements in both numerical modelling and experimental testing to overcome limitations of all other competing models to describe this phenomenon.

Supervisors

Dr Benjy Marks, Professor Itai Einav.

Research location

Civil Engineering

Program type

PHD

Synopsis

This project will develop novel analytic and numerical models to assess internal erosion susceptibility, and will couple this model with advanced dynamic X-ray analysis to quantify the changes in internal structure of the medium during erosion.

The analytic and numerical models will be based on recent advancements in heterarchical multiscale modelling, which is a new class of model for representing dynamic changes in the grainsize distribution of a soil. The experimental plan will involve validating this model against new data, which will be measured using our unique in-house DynamiX facility for high speed X-ray analysis of granular media. The successful candidate will use this facility to measure in-situ changes in porosity and grainsize distribution over the duration of a test.

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Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2496