REU participant support Unlocking Efficiencies in Earthmoving for Future Infrastructure: Modeling Plowing and Cutting Processes in Soils

The aim of this research is to advance the scientific understanding of how soils are moved and shaped. Launching a new, fertile field that exists at the interface between geotechnical and mechanical engineering, the proposed research program integrates state-of-the-art physical modelling with the development of new techniques for numerical modelling to elucidate and predict the full progression of forces and deformations in fundamental earthmoving processes.