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Webinar Date
03 Jun 2021, 11:00 am
Abstract
This presentation describes key research works on expansive soils, the methods employed to characterize them, and fallacies in the current characterization of expansive soils. Novel swell characterization models that account for hydro, chemical, and mechanical behaviors of soils are introduced and used in various case studies to improve expansive soil stabilization practices. An innovative design method for successful stabilization of expansive soil is introduced in one case study which incorporated both basic clay mineralogy and unsaturated soil behaviors, as well as performance-based durability studies. Sulfate soil stabilization works on medium-to-high sulfate soils are presented in another case study. The last case study involving steep earthen embankment built with expansive clayey soils and experiencing recurring surficial slope failures and maintenance issues is presented along with forensic studies explaining the causes of slope failures. All case studies reveal the need for understanding of soil chemistry, including clay mineralogy and sulfate screening studies, to improve the current field stabilization and infrastructure design on expansive soils. The last section of the talk focuses on recent innovations for better health monitoring and management of civil infrastructure built on expansive soils using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms and visualization tools, which will be valuable in validating the application of new materials in infrastructure design and construction processes as well as for health monitoring and asset management practices.
Biography
Anand Puppala, Ph.D.,P.E, D.GE, F-ASCE, F-ICE currently serves as A. P. Wiley and Florence Chair of Zachry Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University and is also an Associate Director of Center for Infrastructure Renewal (CIR), both appointments started since September, 2019. He served as Associate Dean - Research in College of Engineering for 7+ years and was a Distinguished Scholar Professor in the Civil Engineering department at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in Texas, USA since 1996 Dr. Puppala is the current chair of Soil Mechanics section (AFS00) of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and is a member of Design and Construction group of TRB. He also chaired American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)’s Geotechnical Institute’s (GI) “Engineering Geology and Site Characterization” committee and TRB committee on ‘Soil and Rock Instrumentation’. Dr. Puppala also served as President of United States Universities Council on Geotechnical Education and Research (USUCGER) from 2007-2009.
Dr Puppala has been conducting research on stabilization of expansive soils, UAVs for infrastructure monitoring studies and asset management studies, dam safety and embankments slope studies, in situ intrusive methods for site characterization, infrastructure resilience and material characterization studies. Dr. Puppala has been a recipient of several major research grants totaling over 22+ Millions of dollars from federal, state, and local government agencies. Dr. Puppala is the current director of NSF’s Industry University Co-operative Research Center (IUCRC) site on Composites in Civil Infrastructure (CICI) at TAMU. He has been serving as program director of TRANSET, a University Transportation Center (UTC) based in LSU. Dr. Puppala’s research scholarly record included 480+ publications including 200 + Journals and he has also edited seven special publications. He has supervised 35 Doctoral and 52 Masters’ thesis students and is currently advising 11 doctoral students and two postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Puppala is an editorial member for several major journals in Civil Engineering including ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Journal of Materials, ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal and edited several books including seven ASCE Special Publications. He has given several Keynote and invited talks all over the World including a prestigious ASCE GI Peck talk at 2020 GeoCongress Meeting held at Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Recommended Citation
Puppala, Anand J., "Case Studies of Problematic Expansive Soils: Characterization Challenges, Innovative Stabilization Designs, and Novel Monitoring Methods" (2021). Abbett Distinguished Seminar Series. 3.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/cii-lectures/3
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Research Center/Lab(s)
Center for Intelligent Infrastructure
Document Type
Presentation
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
movingimage
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2021 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
