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Tree root anchoring: a biomimetic approach to foundation design

Summary

The project aims at finding new foundation designs inspired by tree roots.

Supervisor

Dr Pierre Rognon.

Research location

Civil Engineering

Program type

PHD

Synopsis

Designing reliable and effective foundations is key to many civil and geotechnical engineering projects. Examples include buildings, offshore structures such as oil platforms and wind turbines, and onshore solar farms and transmission towers. With this project, you will seek to create improved foundation designs by drawing inspiration from nature. In this aim, you will research the key geometrical and mechanical features of root systems, which control their bearing and uplift capacities. You will then assess whether engineering foundations could be designed with similar features. This research will be based on state of the art laboratory experiments, Discrete Elements Simulations and Finite Element simulations, which have been developed in our group.

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Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 2380

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