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RESEARCH INTERESTS

 

1. Wireless sensors for blast monitoring and slope stability

 

- Development of compact, inexpensive wireless sensor networks

- For mining, monitor ppv, ppa, frequency spectrum, scaled distance relationships

- For mining, highways and railways, monitor stability using resonant frequencies

- Interface with point cloud software for visualization and stability calculations

 

2. Hyperspectral imaging for material tracking and rock characterization

 

- Use of push-broom technologies along moving conveyor belts containing rock fragments

- Interface with fragmentation delineation algorithms to determine rock type for each rock fragment

- Development of material tracking algorithms for use in mine-to-mill optimization

 

3. LIDAR for rock mass characterization and change detection

 

- Use of LIDAR and Digital Image Processing to image rock faces. 

- Development of software to automatically extract fracture information from LIDAR and digital images. 

- Field case studies to determine accuracy and best-practices

- Development of software for accurate change detection

- Inputting detailed point clouds into three-dimensional FEM/DEM programs

 

4. Time-dependent rock fracture mechanics

 

- Lab tests to determine subcritical crack growth properties for tensile and shear crack growth

- Implementing time-dependent fracture mechanics into FEM/DEM programs

- Studying very slow subcritical crack growth at the nano scale using the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)

- Study of time-dependent limestone cave degradation as an analog for long-term rock behavior

- Underground nuclear waste storage geomechanics

 

5. Digital image processing applied to rock fragments and rock fragmentation

 

- Software for delineating rock fragments and estimating the size distribution

- Application of the software in blasting, crushing and grinding

- Use of image processing and drill monitoring for blast modeling and optimization

- Mine-to-mill optimization

 

6. Teaching rock mechanics in the 21st century

 

- Novel ideas for web-based learning

- MS and PhD degrees for distance students

- Short courses and classroom teaching aimed at both students and professionals

 

7. Other Topics in Geomechanics and Fracture Mechanics

 

- State-of-the-art testing, fracturing and sensing rock mechanics laboratory

- The next generation of 3D numerical modeling software

 

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