Research


The following is a concise overview of the research that the group is involved with. It is organized by topics, but of course there is a necessary overlap among topics. Credit must be given to the students, visitors, and faculty collaborators who have worked with us and have pushed the field forward.

Fracture Mechanics
Discontinuous Media
Autoadaptive Systems
Analytical and Numerical Models
Soil-Structure Interaction
Tunnels
Problem Soils
Extreme Events
Current Projects

Problem Soils

In the United States highly organic soils cover approximately a 80,000 square mile area, and are present throughout the country, from New England, to portions of the Mid West, to Alaska, to great part of Florida and to the delta areas of many of the large US rivers .

Organic soils are generally viewed as “problem” soils indicating that their engineering properties are inferior to those of other soft soils, and that their behavior may deviate significantly from traditional rules of soil behavior.

The presence of organics in soils is generally associated with high compressibility, high rates of creep, as well as unsatisfactory strength characteristics, which increase the risk of foundation failure and/or of inadmissible settlements. These problems are compounded by concerns and difficulties with the application of some soil improvement methods which are employed to treat other soft soils.
Block Sampling of an organic soil at Lindberg road, West Lafayette, IN.
  • Rodriguez-Miranda, M.A., Pascual, F., and Bobet, A. (1986). Diseno, Construccion y Comportamiento de Rellenos de Tipo Sandwich en la Autopista Bilbao-Behovia [Design, Construction and Behavior of Sandwich Type Embankments in the Bilbao-Behovia Highway]. Simposio de terraplenes, pedraplenes y otros rellenos, Madrid.

  • Hwang, J., Bobet, A. and Santagata, M. (2003). Laboratory Evaluation of the Compressibility of a Highly Organic Soil. Great Lakes Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Conference: Advances in Characterizing and Engineering Problem Soils. Paper # 6.

  • Santagata, M.C., Bobet, A., Johnston, C., and Hwang, J. (2008). One-dimensional Compression Behavior of Highly Organic Soil. ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 134, No. 1, pp. 1203-1215.

  • Jung, C.M., Bobet, A., Siddiki, N.Z., and Kim, D. (2008). Long-term Performance of Chemically-Modified Subgrade Soils in Indiana. Proceedings of the 87th Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 21 pp.

  • Jung, C.M., Bobet, A., Siddiki, N.Z., and Kim, D. (2008). Long-term Performance of Chemically-Modified Subgrade Soils in Indiana. Transportation Research Record,No. 2059, pp. 63-71.

  • Bobet, A., Hwang, J., Johnston, C., and Santagata, M.C. (2010). One-dimensional Consolidation Behavior of Cement Treated Organic Soil. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 48, pp. 1100-1115.

  • Jung, C.M., Siddiki, N.Z., and Bobet, A. (2010). Geotechnical Characteristics and Classification of Marl Soils. Proceedings of the 90th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Paper Number 11-0021, Session AFP20, 18 pp.

  • Jung, C.M., Bobet, A., Siddiki, N.Z., and Kim, D. (2011). Post-construction Evaluation of Subgrades Chemically Treated with LKD. ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol. 23, No. 7, pp. 931-940.

  • Jung, C.M., Bobet, A., and Siddiki, N.Z. (2011). Simple Method to Identify Marl Soils. Transportation Research Record, Vol. 2232, pp.76-84.

  • Huang, P.-T., Bobet, A. and Santagata, M. (2012). Identification of Low Organic Content Soils: An Engineering Perspective Approach. Geotechnical Testing Journal, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 1-11.

  • Jung, C.M., Jung, S., Siddiki, N.Z., and Bobet, A. (2013). Field investigation of engineering properties and uniformity of subgrades chemically treated with LKD. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Vol. 14, No.2, pp. 134-145.

  • Johnston, C.T., Sasar, M., Santagata, M., Bobet, A., Duan, L., and Kaminsky, H.A. (2016). Polymer-MFT Interactions: from Surface Chemistry to Rheology. International Oil Sands Tailings Conference 2016, December 4-7, Lake Louise, AB, Canada.

  • El Howayek, A., Santagata, M.C. and Bobet, A. (2017). Geologic origin effects on mineralogy, index properties and fabric of a fine-grained carbonatic deposit. Engineering Geology, Vol. 216, pp. 108-121.

  • El Howayek, A., Bobet, A. and Santagata, M. (2018). Microstructure and cementation of two carbonatic fine-grained soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 320-334. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2018-0059.

  • Santagata, M., Bobet, A. and El Howayek, A. (2018). Characterization of a carbonatic deposit across scales. IS Atlanta 2018 & B2G Atlanta 2018, Atlanta, FL.

  • Sandoval, E., Nantung, T.E., and Bobet, A. (2019). Subgrade Stabilization and Alternatives and Their Application to the MEPDG in Indiana. Proceedings of the 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, TRB Paper - 19-05494R1.

  • Gupta, K., Park, S.S. and Bobet, A. (2024). Resilient Modulus Prediction from Regression and Machine Learning Algorithms. GeoCongress 2024, Vancouver, Ca. Accepted.

  • Tiwari, N., Shin, B., Becker, P. and Bobet, A. (2024). Advancing Light Weight Deflectometer Measurements: Integrating Viscoelastic Plastic Model through Numerical Simulation and Large-Scale Laboratory Physical Model Validation. Transportation Research Board. Paper TRBAM-24-06144. Accepted.