“ We have known for a long time that soil has a granular structure. But in most calculations used for soil mechanics, soil is treated as a continuum rather than a quantity of grains. That works well for most problems in soil mechanics, but not all,” said Adam Bezuijen while discussing this issue upon the acceptance of his position as a professor in soil mechanics and foundation technology at the University of Ghent on 18 September.
He will be combining his work at the university with his duties as a senior specialist in geo-engineering at Deltares.
Professor Bezuijen believes that, in some areas of soil mechanics, further developments will depend upon a granular approach to soil and that the present models will have to be supplemented by calculations at the granular level (such as the Discrete Elements Method and/or Rigid Body calculations).
He argued that a granular approach will be important for areas such as rock berms for preventing damage to pipelines, piping, the ageing of pile foundations or scour processes.
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Press Release, October 3, 2013