Program 01
Dynamic interaction
How do structures, foundations and soil exchange forces and motion?
Models that treat the structure, foundation, piles and soil as one coupled vibrating system.
Pile groups · flexible foundations · contact · IBEM-FEMResearch
The interaction is the problem.
We build computational models for systems whose parts cannot be understood in isolation. Every project begins with the physics of an interface, then moves through formulation, computation, verification and design.
Program 02
Vibration control
How can waves be redirected before they reach a sensitive structure?
Barriers, periodic systems and metamaterial concepts that redirect or attenuate vibration.
Ground waves · barriers · periodicity · vibration attenuation
Program 03
Optimization
How does the best design change when supports, interfaces and failure are modeled honestly?
Computational design methods that account for flexible supports, interfaces and failure modes.
Topology optimization · stress · buckling · flexible supports
Program 04
Offshore multiphysics
What new behavior appears when water, seabed and structures move together?
Coupled models of water, seabed and structures for vibration and marine-protection questions.
Scholte waves · PML · submerged barriers · fluid-soil coupling
Program 05
Bio-inspired engineering
What can roots and burrowing organisms teach us about anchorage and movement through soil?
We study how roots and soil organisms interact with the ground, then translate those mechanics into new structural and robotic concepts.
Root anchorage · organism-soil interaction · soft excavation · biomimetic designResearch in evidence
Published findings and explicitly labelled preliminary results show how the programmes become concrete mechanical claims.
Adapted from the graphical abstract and Figure 6 in Oliveira, A.; Vasconcelos, A. C. A.; Labaki, J. (2023), Latin American Journal of Solids and Structures, 20(6), e491. DOI: 10.1590/1679-78257514. Original article published under CC BY.
Peer reviewed
Dynamic response of piled structures including pile-soil-pile interaction
The receiving structure changes the vibration field rather than merely observing it. Increasing separation reduces transferred vibration, while structural height shifts the coupled resonances. Pile spacing cannot be reduced to one simple monotonic rule.
Graphical abstract key
- Wind-turbine tower: an example of a structure whose dynamic response depends on its supporting soil.
- Elastic soil: carries energy away from the structure as propagating waves, producing radiation damping.
- Rigid-base approximation: neglects soil and foundation flexibility and may misrepresent the dynamic response.
- Coupled soil-pile-structure model: the proposed formulation includes the dynamic behavior of the supporting soil.
- Finite element method (FEM): represents the elastic superstructure, illustrated by the mesh on the tower base.
- Boundary element method (BEM): represents the surrounding soil and its interaction with the piles; the piles themselves use finite beam elements.
- Pile-soil-pile interaction: energy passes between piles through the intervening soil, represented by the teal wave paths.
- Vertical frequency-response function: vertical displacement at the tower response point per unit vertical force, compared for three support assumptions.
- Coupled model, teal curve: includes flexible piles, soil response and interaction between piles (Case 3 in the paper).
- Fixed pile-head supports, petroleum-blue curve: only the discrete pile-head locations are fixed; soil interaction is omitted (Case 2).
- Fully fixed base, navy curve: the entire bottom surface is fixed; soil interaction is omitted (Case 1).
- First-resonance shift: the fully fixed-base model overestimates the first vertical natural frequency compared with the coupled model in this example.
How to read the graph
Horizontal axis: normalized excitation frequency a₀ = ωd/cₛ, from 0 to 3. Here ω is angular excitation frequency, d is pile diameter, and cₛ is the soil shear-wave speed. Vertical grid lines are spaced by 0.5 in a₀.
Vertical axis: magnitude of vertical displacement per unit vertical force, |u_zz| = |U_zz/F_z|, in m/N, on a logarithmic scale. The displayed range is 10⁻¹³ at the bottom to 10⁻⁸ at the top; successive horizontal grid lines differ by a factor of ten.
The drawings are schematic, not to scale; the depicted pile count and mesh are illustrative. The continuous curves were digitized from the unobscured amplitude panel of the published Figure 6, not recalculated from raw simulation data. Their colors follow the SSI Lab palette.
Work in progress
Reference response reproduced in a finite COMSOL domain
After correcting the boundary treatment and calibrating the domain, the simulated vertical response follows the reference curve closely through the main resonance and its decay.
View original evidence figure
Work in progress
A structural skeleton that preserves the cargo volume
The initial 3D optimization produced a connected load path between the seating surface and the supports while keeping the central cargo cavity free of structural material.
FAPESP projectView original evidence figure
Work in progress
Expansion creates a moving soil-stress field
Each expanding body segment generates a localized stress concentration in the surrounding soil. The travelling pattern provides a mechanical bridge between prescribed body motion, anchorage and soil disturbance.
FAPESP IC projectView original evidence figure
We are preparing research codes, interactive tools and reproducible examples for public use.
Explore ResourcesSee who develops these questions and which partnerships make them possible.