DrJoao Antonio Harb Carraro

RESEARCH AREAS:
FABRIC-SENSITIVE SOIL MECHANICS
In the past century, geotechnical design and analysis were underpinned by the assumption that soil behaviour can be properly modelled using stress and density-based state variables. Following improvements in our understanding of fundamental soil mechanics and recent advances in experimental technology, it is now apparent that the stress and fabric tensors (and their related properties) are the key state descriptors that will underpin rigorous geotechnical analysis and design in the 21st century. Below are examples of collaborative research that are helping shed new light on this topic:

Shi, Xiao, Carraro et al. (2023) Anisotropic small strain stiffness of lightly biocemented sand considering grain morphology. Géotechnique

Dominguez-Quintans, Carraro & Zdravkovic (2023) A critical assessment of the effect of initial fabric on key small-strain design parameters of slurry-deposited silts and sands. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

Quinteros & Carraro (2023) The initial fabric of undisturbed and reconstituted fluvial sand. Géotechnique
Liu, O’Sullivan & Carraro (2023) The influence of particle size distribution on the stress distribution in granular materials. Géotechnique

Liu, O’Sullivan & Carraro (2022) Use of combined static and dynamic testing to quantify the participation of particles in stress transmission. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

Liu, Morimoto, Carraro & O’Sullivan (2022) A semi-empirical re-evaluation of the influence of state on elastic stiffness in granular materials. Granular Matter

Tastan & Carraro (2022) The effect of principal stress rotation and intermediate principal stress changes on the liquefaction resistance and undrained cyclic response of Ottawa sand. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

Barnett, Rahman, Karim, Nguyen & Carraro (2021) Equivalent state theory for mixtures of sand with non-plastic fines: a DEM investigation. Géotechnique

Liu, O’Sullivan & Carraro (2021) Influence of particle size distribution on the proportion of stress-transmitting particles and implications for measures of soil state. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

Tastan & Carraro (2013) A New Slurry-Based Method of Preparation of Hollow Cylinder Specimens of Clean and Silty Sands. Geotechnical Testing Journal

Carraro, Prezzi & Salgado (2009) Shear Strength and Stiffness of Sands Containing Plastic or Nonplastic Fines, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

Carraro & Prezzi (2008) A new slurry-based method of preparation of specimens of sand containing fines, Geotechnical Testing Journal

Carraro, Bandini & Salgado (2003) Liquefaction resistance of clean and nonplastic silty sands based on cone penetration resistance, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Eng.

For an updated list of publications resulting from these multi-scale research collaborations on topics related to Fabric-Sensitive Soil Mechanics, please see the Publications section of this web page or contact Dr Carraro directly.
SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE MATERIALS
Combining novel and sustainable soil stabilisation methods with fundamental principles from soil mechanics and recycling of waste materials, this collaborative and multi-disciplinary research is producing new sustainable materials for the next generation of green, resilient and socially-conscious engineering infrastructure of 21st-Century's Circular Economy (e.g. road embankments, rock dams, granular columns, road pavement layers, railway ballast, building foundations, wall insulation panels and load-bearing walls for residential buildings). Examples of collaborative publications on this topic include:

Coal mining waste & fly ash: Wiechert et al. (2011)
Rammed earth: Ciancio et al. (2014), Carraro (2015)
Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP): Consoli et al. (2020)
Recycled concrete: in progress
Scrap tyre rubber: Carraro et al. (2013), Dunham-Friel & Carraro (2011), Seda et al. (2007), Mashiri et al. (2018)
Tailings & mine waste: Fox & Carraro (2010)
Waste (carbide) lime: Consoli et al. (2001)
Waste glass: Dunham-Friel & Carraro (2014), Kazmi et al. (2022)
Waste fibre: van de Lindt et al. (2008)
For an updated list of publications and infrastructure applications resulting from these multi-disciplinary collaborations on new sustainable infrastructure materials, please see the Publications section of this web page or contact Dr Carraro directly.
Geotechnical Laboratory
Soil Mechanics Laboratory at Imperial College London

Link to The Skempton and Bishop Archives

Visitors and Postdoc Supervision
Visiting scholars and postdoctoral researchers:

M. Rahman (South Australia), 2019
J. Pineda (Newcastle), 2016
B. Umashankar (IIT-Hyderabad), (Co-sup.: D. White), 2014
J.B. Kang (Colorado State), 2011
International visitors (CNPq Science Without Borders):

M.V. Coutinho (Co-sup.: S. Chow), 2016
S. Harkins (Co-sup.: S. Gourvenec), 2016
P.F. Tavares, 2015
L. de Araujo, (Co-sup.: D. White), 2015
C.A. Di Nubila, 2014
M.S. Bortolotto, 2014