Title: The Potential for Future Innovations with Foundation Interfaces

Abstract: Interfaces are ubiquitous in geotechnical engineering and perhaps no more so than in deep foundation systems. Despite this central role, the manner in which interfaces are typically treated has been largely empirical and qualitative. There is an opportunity to enhance the role of interfaces in deep foundation performance if we transition to a more quantitative engineering approach. This lecture presents a series of insights into interface performance that explicitly looks at the engineering of interfaces from a quantitative perspective and in particular, emphasizes the role of compatibility between the natural and man-made geomaterials at an interface. A classification of how interfaces are generated provides a framework to explore alternative interface design strategies. The lecture illustrates how such an approach can yield benefits not only in terms of structural performance but also thermal performance. The manner in which bio-inspiration can play a role in these innovations is described.

Speaker Bio: Frost studies natural and man-made disasters and their impact on infrastructure at multiple scales using digital data collection systems. He worked in industry in Ireland and Canada on infrastructure projects before entering academia. He has graduated 45 PhD students, published more than 200 refereed journal and conference papers and has given more than 80 invited lectures worldwide. Frost is chair of the Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance Association, an NSF sponsored organization that responds to disasters worldwide. He is also the subsurface engineering research Thrust Leader for the NSF Engineering Research Center on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics. He has been involved in a range of entrepreneurial activities including start-up companies and technology commercialization. He has organized numerous workshops and conferences on the applications of spatial analysis tools to study damage patterns from disasters. He is a regular invited participant in conferences and workshops on disaster prediction, assessment and response. He has been recognized for his teaching and research, including receiving the ASCE Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, the ASTM Hogentogler Award and the ASCE Seed Medal. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the US and Canada and a Fellow of ASCE.