Our research

Our research is directed towards the understanding, modeling, simulation, and quantitative prediction of complex mechanical systems, with special application to geomechanics. We are particularly interested in modeling instabilities in multi-phase porous media under static and dynamic loading by developing robust constitutive models and efficient techniques in computational inelasticity and finite element procedures.

Our research program at Northwestern encompasses the following interconnected areas:

1. Computational inelasticity to develop a more mathematically consistent framework for geomaterials and to develop more efficient computational tools to implement such models.
   

2. Reliability of structures to improve and couple already existing structural reliability methods with advanced computational tools for modeling mechanical systems.
   

3. Energy-related applications using the mixed formulation framework for deformation-diffusion problems involving oil reservoirs, nuclear containment facilities, and CO2 sequestration initiatives.
   

4. Multi-scale modeling of geosystems to develop a deeper understanding of such models in which different space and time scales play a role on the overall behavior of the system.