Nariman Mahabadi, Assistant Professor (Principal Investigator)
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Akron. I received my PhD in Civil Engineering (geotechnical engineering) from Arizona State University. Before joining the University of Akron, I worked as a research professor at the NSF Engineering Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) at Arizona State University (ASU), and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. My research interests include multiphysics coupled processes in porous media with applications primarily in the areas of bio-geotechnical engineering, biology, subsurface energy, geomechanics, and geo-environmental engineering. In our research group, we develop new theories, numerical models and experimental devices to characterize fundamental physical properties in porous and granular media
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Akron. I received my PhD in Civil Engineering (geotechnical engineering) from Arizona State University. Before joining the University of Akron, I worked as a research professor at the NSF Engineering Center for Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (CBBG) at Arizona State University (ASU), and a visiting scholar at Stanford University. My research interests include multiphysics coupled processes in porous media with applications primarily in the areas of bio-geotechnical engineering, biology, subsurface energy, geomechanics, and geo-environmental engineering. In our research group, we develop new theories, numerical models and experimental devices to characterize fundamental physical properties in porous and granular media
Sina Nassiri (PhD Student - at PRL since Spring 2020)
One of the projects that I am involved in is the investigation of clogging effect on porous media. This is an interesting topic since as a geotechnical student I had not been investigating the microscale behavior of soil, which is a porous media, due to clogging. We all know that the permeability reduces, but "how" is the topic that I am working on. This investigation started as a numerical simulation with MATLAB, with numerically generated networks and validated by an actual extracted network from a soil sample. At this stage, our team is working on the experimental part of this study by using microfluidic chips and clogging them with reactive solution to follow the generation and growth of the mineral precipitation that causes clogging. The second part of the porous media research is double phase flow. In this study, using MATLAB simulation, air is being injected into a saturated network to draw a Soil Water Characterization Curve (SWCC). Our team studied the parameters involved in SWCC curve and gathered a large database to do so. With a small pivot from civil engineering and geophysics topics, another interesting project that I am involved in is the leaf venation study. Simulation of leaf as a unique pore network to study its hydraulic parameters such as relative permeability and water potential. The simulations were done based on the extracted network of veins from actual leaves that had been done in biology lab. This research is a collaboration with our research team and Dr. Blonder's team from the University of Berkley, California. When I am not working on my research projects, I enjoy the marvelous nature of north-east Ohio by hiking in its numerous hiking trails, either alone listening to an intriguing podcast or audio book, or with friends. The exiting part of my hiking is to find sign-trees or other remaining of Native Americans in Ohio, I have a plan to visit Serpent Mound one day, preferably on Summer solstice. I think we live in the golden age of tv series, watching good ones is always a nice ending to a nice day. |
Armin Motahari (PhD Student - at PRL since Fall 2021)
I am currently working as a Ph.D. student at PRL. My research is focused on studying the acoustic and seismic wave propagation in geomaterials at different scales (from pore- to core-size). In this research topic, I am designing and performing several experimental and numerical simulations to explore the response of geomaterials (as a three-phase medium in which grains are as solid, water as liquid and voids as air) during acoustic and seismic wave excitations. By doing core-scale experiments, we are trying to investigate the impact of biological processes in soils on the hydro-mechanical response of granular soils by studying wave propagations throughout our samples. These wave analyses are counted as non-destructive tests where the measurements can be counted as a valuable method to predict the mechanical properties of soils in Geotechnical Engineering. Furthermore, In the field scale, the fiber optics will be used for the distributed acoustic sensing interrogator, functioning as both an acoustic pickup and a seismic sensor. Beside the experiments, it is important to validate the related numerical models with the previous experimental studies. COMSOL Multiphysics is used to create and simulate the pore-scale models in a micro-scale approach. As an important part of the research, we will also try to develop a novel discrete element method (DEM) for particle-level studies. All of these attempts are being done for faster and more efficient signal analysis in porous media as well as more reliable results and conclusions to be applied under different conditions in the practice. In addition to wave analysis in porous media, as a parallel task, we are trying to develop a 3D Photo-elastic chamber to study coupled phenomena in granular media, as well as developing some novel image processing techniques to explore dynamic compaction in granular media. Personal hobbies: I am crazy about cars, road trips, and camping. I also love road biking and kayaking for weekends as far as Ph.D. life allows me (lol). Life would be meaningless without music so I will listen to and play my favorite songs anytime I find a chance. |
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Samantha Zidd (former Graduate Research Assistant)
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Timothy Wenger (former Undergraduate Research Assistant)
- Graduated in Fall 2021
- Research Topic: Fabrication of photoelastic particles
- Graduated in Fall 2021
- Research Topic: Fabrication of photoelastic particles
Jewelie Mock (former Undergradaute Research Assistant)
- Graduated in Fall 2021 - Research topic: Biogenic gas bubble formation in porous media |
Daniel Schullek (former Undergraduate Research Assistant)
- Graduated in Spring 2022 - Research topic: Photoelasticity in geotechnics |