Last updated – July 2023. Valid for the 2023-24 academic year. EPFL students only – registration via the online spreadsheet EPFL Google spreadsheet – send an email to Prof. Lecampion in parallel.
2023-24 Academic year
Master’s semester projects
Please contact us for more details. Here is some of the current semester projects at the master level. Students must take Civil-423 prior or in parallel. GC, ME & SIE students welcome.
We are developing a robust & fast boundary element code (in 2D and 3D) for elastostatic problems possibly including the presence of many cracks. Come & help us testing, documenting the code further by investigating different applied problem in solid mechanics.
We have acquired 10’000++ microCT scan images of fractured rock samples. Using a deep convolutional network, the fracture trace were picked. Come & analysis their statistics and what they tell us about fracture in quasi-brittle materials, and possibly in a second stage improve / re-train the neural network.
Numerical modeling of the magmatic intrusion that occurred in Iceland using the open-source hydraulic fracture code PyFrac
Pore-pressure and stress changes associated with sub-surface fluid injection / withdrawal can active fault slip. Finite element modeling of Thermo-hydro-mechanical problems.
Granular materials filled faults & fracture in rock masses. How far-field loading affect the plastic deformation of this gouge material ? Interest in soil mechanics / granular mechanics + numerical modeling required.
Acoustic (active & Passive) monitoring of quasi-brittle materials (concrete, rocks) to image the evolution of damage & failures. Signal processing, Data analysis, seismological methods… come & learn geophysics applied to different kind of civil engineering problems….
Finite Element simulations of true triaxial reacting frame – including platen / samples friction etc.
Numerical modeling of soil-structures interaction problem for ULS. Students must have taken the Computational Geomechanics
Final Master Projects (PDM)
In mobility @ Georgia Institute of Technology in collaboration with Prof. H Huang.
In this project, using recent advances in the distinct element modeling of quasi-brittle materials (Ma & Huang, 2018) such as rock and concrete, the goal is to reproduce numerically novel experiments designed to characterize the fracture mechanic behavior of these class of material. In particular, the goal will be to model the recently developed “gap-test” used to quantify concrete failure behavior (Bazant et al, 2022). This project requires a strong interest in the physics and mechanics of materials as well as numerical modelling.
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In collaboration with Gruner AG, this Master’s final project (PdM) aims to improve the applicability of the open-source finite element software MOOSE (https://mooseframework.inl.gov/) to geotechnical problems by implementing the elastic aspects of the Hardening Soil Small Strain (HSS) material model as open source. The project responds to the increasing demand for comprehensive and open-source solutions in geotechnical engineering and addresses the current limitation of MOOSE, which lacks the implementation of constitutive laws for “stress-dependent stiffness” and “strain-dependent stiffness”. By incorporating the elastic behavior aspects of the HSS model into MOOSE, this project aims to make this open-source platform more relevant and useful for complex geotechnical scenarios. By collaborating with field engineers in the geotechnical department of Gruner AG, the project combines research and practical aspect of geotechnical engineering.
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In collaboration with Geo-Energie Suisse AG, this project focus on the design of the hydraulic stimulation that will be performed during the Haute-Sorne project. It requires interest in numerical modeling of hydro-mechanical problem as well as geomechanics at large.
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- Rock slope stability under climate change
- Predicting the excavation damage zone of tunnels in quasi-brittle rocks
- Interaction between Shear-banding & re-inforcements in geotechnical engineering
- Elastic rebounding due to retreating Glaciers in the Alps
- subject proposed by the student having a geotechnical flavour & with a degree of numerical modeling (example: specific slope stability etc.)
Contact Prof. Lecampion
Bachelor Projects (BA6)
- Limit analysis for geotechnical engineering ULS design
- Modeling the geomechanical response of hydrogen/co2 storage in porous media
- Imaging of fracture and defects using active and passive acoustics
- Analysis of an in-situ injection experiment at the Bedretto Res. Lab.
- Revisting the Barbarbunga magmatic intrusion sequence
- subject proposed by the student having a geotechnical flavour & with a degree of numerical modeling (example: specific slope stability etc.)