
Professor Erdin Ibraim
PhD (INSA/ENTPE Lyon)
Current positions
Professor of Experimental Geomechanics
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Contact
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Research interests
My research activity spans across the length scales, from detailed material microstructure to in-situ conditions, from soils to structures; at the same time, they have made important contributions in advanced soil mechanics laboratory testing and soil reinforcement.
My research interests have been pursued under three generic themes:
- Advanced soil mechanics laboratory testing and equipment developments
I have acquired high expertise in using various soil mechanics apparatus by working in experimental research projects in Bristol, Grenoble, Lyon (MSc, PhD). I have developed innovative local axial strain measurement systems for triaxial, hollow cylinder torsional and cubical cell apparatus for pre-failure deformation (stiffness) and large strain characterisation of the behaviour of soils by continuous tests on single specimens. I have been invited to join the International Technical Committee of experts in Laboratory soil mechanics testing (TC101) in 2011, served as Secretary between 2013 and 2017 and I am currently the Vice-Chair, since Nov. 2017. The role of the TC101 is instrumental in promoting internationalco-operation between academics and practitioners, and exchange of information concerning research and developments in advanced laboratory geotechnical testing. TC101 activity is overseen by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE).
- Investigation of soil behaviour (testing and modelling) from micro to macro length scales
My interest in the micromechanical description of soils focuses on the following topics: seismic wave propagation through granular media under multiaxial stress conditions (joint Bristol/Imperial College London EPSRC research project, EP/G064180), time effects in sands (collaboration in progress with Dr. B. Cazacliu, IFSTTAR Nantes, France), and fibre reinforced soils (collaborations with Dr. K. Maeda, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, University of Grenoble, Prof. Cino Viggiany, Dr Ando Edward). The laboratory macro element testing concerned extensive studies on soil liquefaction under monotonic loading, mechanics of fibre reinforced soils and constitutive modelling developments. While determination of fibre orientation is recognised by peers as being new and innovative, the work on liquefaction prevention and fibre/matrix interaction mechanism opens new perspectives on the use of fibre technique for the reinforcement of soils. This work includes an invited paper for a Special Issue on New Horizons in Earth Reinforcement, Geotextiles and Geomembranes Journal. Two new lines of research consider the behaviour of soils mixed with soft rubber inclusions and advanced investigations and characterisation of crushing of granular materials.
- Structural dynamics of real buildings, including soil-structure interaction problems
This research area involves: the situ dynamic testing of existing buildings before and during demolition and seismic vulnerability assessment based on analytical developments (collaboration with the earthquake research team of ENTPE Lyon, France); phenomenological aspects of the dynamic interaction problem between soil and long inclusions through a physical shaking table set-up (EU FP7 international collaboration under SERIES programme); dynamic interaction between adjacent buildings (collaboration with Dr Nick Alexander); dynamic pile-soil-interaction in liquefiable soils (joint Bristol/Oxford EPSRC research project, EP/H015345).
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) - Improving soil characterisation through acoustic emission and machine learning
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
The project aims to explore a novel machine learning (ML) based technology capable of processing soil-emitted acoustic signals and enhance the accuracy in characterising geomaterials’ mechanical properties.Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
03/06/2024 to 29/11/2024
Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) - University of Bristol and Structural Soils Limited
Principal Investigator
Description
The KTP develops new, advanced, geotechnical soil-testing services for onshore and offshore construction projects based on the latest techniques emerging from research.Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/01/2024 to 31/12/2026
ROBOCONE: intelligent robotic geotechnical characterisation for next generation site investigation and design
Principal Investigator
Role
Researcher
Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/06/2022 to 31/12/2025
Innovative low-impact materials for highly resilient infrastructure systems
Principal Investigator
Description
The integration of innovative low-impact materials, normally complex composites highly heterogeneous with intricate interactions between different phases, in highly resilient infrastructure systems is seriously hampered by: (i) the lack of…Managing organisational unit
Department of Civil EngineeringDates
29/06/2018 to 30/07/2018
Thesis supervisions
Fibre reinforced sands : Experiments and constitutive modelling
Supervisors
Hydraulic Conductivity of Road Construction Materials
Supervisors
3D FE-informed laboratory soil testing for the design of offshore wind turbine monopiles
Supervisors
Mechanical Behaviour of Sand-Rubber Mixtures with Cementation as a Mitigation Option
Supervisors
Change in elastic properties of sands under very large number of low amplitude multiaxial cyclic loading
Supervisors
A framework for assessing parameter variability of soil stress-strain data using triaxial test databases
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
17/09/2024A laboratory study of freeze-thaw effects on hydraulic conductivity of kaolin-sand mixtures
Geotechnical Engineering Challenges to Meet Current and Emerging Needs of Society
Development and Preliminary Testing of a New Robotic Tool for Direct Determination of ‘P-Y’ Soil Reaction Curves for Offshore Geotechnical Applications
An evaluation of non-linear undrained behaviour in the moderate strain range for fine-grained soils
E3S Web of Conferences
Understanding the properties of activated carbon and biochar for the adsorption and removal of cyanotoxins
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Comparison of simple stress-strain models in the moderate strain range for fine-grained soils
E3S Web of Conferences