Talk on "Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering"
Speaker: Dr. Raghunandan
Title: Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
Abstract:Increasing geo-environmental concerns in soil and subsurface contamination by hydrocarbons and/or oil due to any improper disposal practices, uncontrolled milling and accidental spills have gained attention over the past years. Such alteration due to presence of oil in the soil voids hypothetically is known to affect various properties of the soil – mainly governed by the water and oil interface. The magnitude of such alteration is anticipated to be higher in clayey soils than sand, owing of their high surface charges, larger surface area and lower particle sizes. A thorough understanding of these effect and risks associated with various engineering activities thus forms a prime step towards developing a sustainable environment. This presentation aims to highlight the influence of increasing palm oil content on the geotechnical properties and flow of a contaminant tracer (NaCl solution of different concentration) through palm oil mixed kaolin clay samples. Discussions include details and analysis of laboratory experiments and findings using state-of-the-art 1D soil column setup and 3D diffusion tests. To this end, the presence of palm oil in kaolin was found to fundamentally alter kaolin’s basic geotechnical properties and transport parameters, which will be briefly discussed before conclude the presentation.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Raghunandan is currently working as a Senior Lecturer in Geomechanics at the Civil Engineering discipline, School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia (2013 – till date). Prior to joining Monash University, Dr. Raghunandan has worked at the University of Regina, SK Canada as a post-doctoral fellow (2011-12). He also had an opportunity to work at the University of Saskatchewan, SK Canada as an exchange student with support from the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship in 2011. He holds a PhD degree (2007-11) from the IIT Bombay. Dr. Raghunandan’s research expertise focus mainly in the fields of soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering, behaviour of soil under pavements and machine foundation, ground improvement, environmental geotechnology, and green materials in soil.
Event Date: 09th July, 2019(Tuesday)
Event Time: 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM
Venue: Room No 119
IIT Dharwad, Karnataka