SYNOPSIS

The lecture will address research carried out at Oxford University on the understanding of the interactions between ground movements and structures. Three-dimensional finite element analyses have been carried out of a number of different construction problems including tunnelling, shaft construction and deep excavations. Interactions between these operations and a variety of types of buildings have been studied, including masonry and concrete-framed buildings. The importance of interaction between the stiffness of the building and the ground is emphasised, and a number of recommendations are made on which features are important in analyses


PROFILE OF SPEAKER

Guy Houlsby has been Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Oxford since 1991, and was Head of the Department of Engineering Science from 2009 to 2014. His main research is in geotechnical engineering, and he is an internationally recognised expert on offshore foundations, where he has a particular interest in the understanding of the behaviour of shallow foundations. Much of his recent work has been applied to foundations for offshore wind turbines. He has also carried out extensive work in theoretical soil mechanics and plasticity theory. He has published over 200 scientific papers and is a past Editor of the ICE’s journal “Géotechnique”. Recently he has developed a particular interest in renewable energy, and has a rapidly expanding research group working on tidal power. He is a Director of the spinout company Kepler Energy Ltd, developing tidal power systems using the novel “Transverse Horizontal Axis Water Turbine” (THAWT). He regularly lectures in the UK and abroad, and has acted as a specialist consultant in civil, geotechnical and offshore engineering on many projects. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Royal Academy of Engineering.