Róisín Buckley BE MSc PhD DIC MIEI

Róisín’s main research field is experimental geotechnics, with a particular focus currently on field pile testing, cyclic loading effects, high strain dynamic pile testing and laboratory experiments. Her research aims to understand the mechanics of and improve the design of pile foundations subjected to axial and lateral loading for onshore and offshore applications.

Two recent joint industry projects in which her research has played a key role:

• Rationalising offshore wind-turbine pile design and assurance in difficult ground
• ALPACA: Axial-Lateral Pile Analysis for Chalk Applying multi-scale field and laboratory testing

The projects have advanced the understanding of displacement pile behaviour in chalk under a range of loading conditions.

The ALPACA project

The ALPACA (Axial lateral pile analysis in chalk applying multi-scale field and laboratory testing) project is a major collaborative research endeavour between Imperial College London and the University of Oxford. The project is funded by EPSRC (£1.38m) and industrial partners (£390k). The testing programme aims to investigate axial and lateral capacity under static and cyclic loading, using state-of-the-art field testing equipment and fibre-optic instruments.

The primary aim of the research is to understand the behaviour of driven piles in chalk under axial and lateral, static and cyclic, applied loads, leading to an improvement in current design methods. The field testing is supplemented by additional experiments with a model scale pile, as well as new investigations into the chalk’s detailed mechanical behaviour, using in-situ testing and advanced static and cyclic laboratory testing.

• Buckley R. M., Kontoe, S., Jardine, R. J., Maron, M., Schroeder, F. C. & Barbosa, P. (2017). Common pitfalls of pile driving resistance analysis - A case study of the Wikinger offshore windfarm. Proc. 8th Intl. Conf. Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, London, UK: 1246-1253
• Buckley R. M., Jardine, R. J., Kontoe, S., Parker, D. & Schroeder, F. C. (2018). Ageing and cyclic behaviour of axially loaded piles driven in chalk. Géotechnique, 68, No. 2, doi: 10.1680/jgeot.17.P.012: 146-161
• Buckley R. M., Jardine, R. J., Kontoe, S. & Lehane, B. M. (2018). Effective stress regime around a jacked steel pile during installation ageing and load testing in chalk. Can. Geotech. J, No. 11: 1577-1591. doi: 10.1139/cgj-2017-0145, 55
• Buckley R. M., McAdam, R. A., Byrne, B. W., Doherty, J. P., Jardine, R. J., Kontoe, S. & Randolph, M. F. (2019). Optical fibre Bragg grating measurements during impact pile driving in chalk, in preparation.
• Buckley R. M., Jardine, R. J., Kontoe, S., Barbosa, P. & Schroeder, F. C. (2019). Full-scale observations of offshore piles driven in chalk and glacial tills: field behaviour under dynamic and static axial loading. under review.

• Jardine R. J., Buckley, R. M., Kontoe, S., Barbosa, P. & Schroeder, F. C. (2018). Behaviour of piles driven in chalk. Engineering in Chalk. ICE Publishing: 33-51

• Buckley R. M., Jardine, R. J., Kontoe, S., Liu, T., Ushev, E., Lehane, B., Pine, T., Schroeder, F. C. & Barbosa, P. (2017). Field investigations into the axial loading response of displacement piles in chalk. Proc. 8th Int. Conf. on Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, London, UK: 1178-1185
• Chan L. D., Buckley, R. M., Liu, T. & Jardine, R. J. (2019). Laboratory investigation of interface shearing in chalk. Proc. 7th International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials - in press
• Doughty L. J., Buckley, R. M. & Jardine, R. J. (2018). Investigating the effect of ageing on the behaviour of chalk putty. Engineering in Chalk, London, UK: 695-701
• Jardine R. J., Buckley, R. M., Byrne, B., Kontoe, S., Macadam, R. & Vinck, K. (2019). The ALPACA research project to improve driven pile design in Chalk. Proc. 17th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, in preparation, Reykjavik, Iceland: in press Liu
• T., Chen, H., Buckley, R. M., Quinteros, V. S. & Jardine, R. J. (2019). Characterisation of sand-steel interface shearing behaviour for the interpretation of driven pile behaviour in sands. 7th International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials - in press, Glasgow, UK: in press

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in postgraduate or postdoctoral research opportunities