Orestis Adamidis Dipl. PhD

Orestis Adamidis studied civil engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, specialising in geotechnical engineering. For his diploma thesis, he numerically investigated the rocking response of slender structures on rigid, elastic, or inelastic ground.

He then moved to the University of Cambridge, where he completed a PhD examining the response of shallow founded structures in the event of earthquake-induced liquefaction, using dynamic centrifuge experiments. These experiments captured the deformation mechanisms that develop in the liquefiable soil under a foundation and highlighted significant aspects of liquefiable soil response, including the importance of co-seismic drainage.

Afterwards, Orestis went to ETH Zurich with a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, where he focused on element testing of liquefiable materials and numerical modelling of liquefaction-related problems.

Since July 2020, Orestis has been appointed Associate Professor at the department of Engineering Science of the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at St Catherine’s College.

Orestis’ current interests include:

Element-level soil response under partially drained conditions

Element testing of soils has typically been conducted under undrained or fully drained conditions. Constitutive modelling typically aims to reproduce soil behaviour under these “standard” conditions of drainage. However, there are some problems where partially drained conditions can become more appropriate. This work aims to reveal how soil responds under partially drained conditions using element testing (e.g., [1], [2], [3]) to assess how constitutive models perform in capturing this response and propose appropriate modifications (e.g., [4], [5], [6]). 

Partially drained response for offshore applications

Uncertainty regarding the water drainage response in offshore sands often hinders design optimisation. For instance, as monopile diameters increase, the assumption of a fully drained response becomes less appropriate. This work uses element-level observations and modelling capabilities for partial drainage to investigate the partially drained behaviour of offshore foundations.

Liquefaction susceptibility of layered deposits

One of the most significant aspects of liquefaction research has to do with the assessment of liquefaction susceptibility, typically performed by practicing engineers using simplified, stress-based or energy-based methods. This work investigates the effects of layer interaction, which are typically neglected by current methodologies (e.g., [1], [7]).

Shallow founded structures and earthquake-induced liquefaction

Granular soils found below the water table can liquefy when subjected to seismic shaking. Structures with shallow foundations founded on liquefiable deposits can suffer excessive settlement and rotation in the event of an earthquake. This work investigates the interaction between the liquefiable soil and the structure, focusing on the deformation mechanisms that develop in the soil, the settlement and the rotation of the foundation, as well as at the interaction between neighbouring structures (e.g., [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]). 

If you are a motivated candidate with a solid academic background please get in touch via email.