Research Interests

Typically pore space in rock is microscopic but there there are certain lithologies (vuggy limestone, vesicular basalt, porous chalk, and lithophysal tuff) where pores/voids are visible to the unaided eye. I am presently involved in characterizing the behavior and properties of such rock using both experimental and numerical modeling. Experimental work incorporates unconfined compression testing, triaxial testing, acoustic emission monitoring, and ultrasonic characterization and both rock and plaster analog models. Numerical modeling has been conducted using FLAC3D and TNO Diana. This work is being conducted in collaboration with colleagues at Montana Tech

Sinkholes are the most prevalent geological hazard in the State of Florida . Although they do not generally cause loss of life, they do cause millions of dollars in property and infrastructure damage each year. Recent work has focused on state-of-the-art geophysical techniques (MASW, seismic refraction tomoagraphy, and electrical resistivity tomography) to detect potential sinkholes, ground truthing (SPT, rock coring, CPT) to verify the geophysics, and investigations into viable and economical repair techniques. This work is conducted with Dennis Hiltunen of the University of Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation.

In almost all geotechnical engineering designs and analyses, it is assumed the grains of sand deform but to not break or fracture under the engineering loads that are placed upon them. However depending on the type of sand present in the subsurface, this is not necessarily true. The consequences of neglecting the crushing of sand grains could be severe; increased settlement followed by distortion and titling of the structure supported by the crushable soils. In Florida there is an abundance of crushable soil materials, the mixture of sand and shells that are typically used for construction throughout the state. Experimental studies using analog materials and real soils from Church Bay, Bermuda and Florida, as well as numerical modeling using PFC2D will soon be undertaken.