Professor Alessandro Tarantino

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Personal statement

I joined the University of Strathclyde in 2010 as Professor of Experimental Geomechanics to establish a research group in geomechanics and geohydraulics specialised in laboratory and field investigation of multiphase geomaterials.

The common denominator of my research is the presence of at least two fluid phases (liquid and gas) in the medium pore space. Under these conditions, different physical processes with high level of coupling (liquid flow, vapour flow, heat transfer, and solid matrix deformation) control the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the porous medium, which is therefore relatively complex to investigate and model.

In Civil and Environmental Engineering, multiphase (unsaturated) porous media are typically encountered in the upper portion of the soil profile, between the ground surface and the ground water table/phreatic surface. Processes occurring in this zone are therefore the focus of my research, and includes rainwater infiltration, groundwater recharge, pollutant transport, soil shrinkage and heave, surface cracking, soil subsidence, and subsurface water flow and runoff (i.e. flood formation), and shallow landslides. Most of these processes have an interaction with the atmosphere and are therefore strongly affected by climate changes.

Multiphase (unsaturated) porous media are also encountered in several geo-infrastructures, including road, railway and flood embankments, dams, and tunnels where mechanical and hydraulic response (stability, deformation, hydraulic conductivity) is controlled by the interaction of the ground with the atmosphere.

Expertise

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Qualifications

I hold an MEng degree in Civil Engineering from the Università di Napoli Federico II in Italy (1993) and a PhD in Geotecnical Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino in Italy (1998).

I was awarded the title of Professional Engineer in Italy in 1993.

Publications

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Publications

A microstructural insight into the compression behaviour of scaly clays: Pedrotti Matteo, Tarantino Alessandro, Annese Antonio, Cotecchia Federica, Vitone Claudia; Géotechnique, pp. 1-40 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.23.00269
Evaluation and improvement of Gay-Berne interaction potential to simulate 3D DLVO interaction of clay particles: Casarella Angela, Tarantino Alessandro, Richefeu Vincent, Di Donna Alice; Computers and Geotechnics Vol 170 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2024.106221
A micro-mechanical insight into the thermo-mechanical behaviour of clays: Di Donna Alice, Casarella Angela, Tarantino Alessandro; Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment Vol 38 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2024.100549
Drying-induced volumetric behaviour of clays interpreted via binary pore-scale modelling: Pedrotti Matteo, Xu Long, Murray Ian William, Tarantino Alessandro; Computers and Geotechnics Vol 165 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2023.105911
Establishing computer-based engineering analysis tools in existing civil engineering curriculum: a case study: Moghaddasi Kelishomi Hamed, Tarantino Alessandro, Bylja Olga, Krishnamurthy Bhaskaran, Bridget Bridget, Shirsath Ravindra; UK and Ireland Engineering Education Research
Network Annual Symposium (2024)
Revisiting DLVO theory to inform particle-scale modelling of clays: Casarella Angela, Tarantino Alessandro, di Donna Alice; Computers and Geotechnics Vol 165 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2023.105876

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Research

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Professional Activities

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering (Journal): Guest editor; 2008
Géotechnique (Journal): Editorial board member; 1/2011
Geotechnique (Journal): Editorial board member; 2009
Bringing vegetation-based solutions into geotechnical engineering design: how do we make it happen?: Speaker; 5/3/2024
Department of Agricultural Sciences - University of Naples Federico II: Visiting researcher; 5/2022
External Examiner of PhD Dissertation at Université Grenoble Alpes: Examiner; 28/1/2022

More professional activities

Projects

Foundations - improving risk assessment and prioritisation processes for management of scour at structures”: Tubaldi, Enrico (Principal Investigator) Tarantino, Alessandro (Principal Investigator); Funder: National Highways
Total Funding: £166,200; 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
Mechanisms of stress transfer in clayey materials at the scale of the clay particle: Pedrotti, Matteo (Principal Investigator) Tarantino, Alessandro (Co-investigator) Migliorelli, Maria Giulia (Academic); Xray Compute Tomography of mechanisms of stress transfer in clayey materials on beamline I13-2 at Diamond Light Source. Project Proposal No MG31709. Equivalent funding value of £60k.; 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2023
EPSRC IAA: PE/ citizen science additional allocation: Tarantino, Alessandro (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025
Plants: climate-smart and carbon-efficient nature based solution to mitigate ‘diffuse’ climate-induced landslide hazard: Tarantino, Alessandro (Principal Investigator) Pedrotti, Matteo (Co-investigator); 14-Jan-2021 - 13-Jan-2023
Carbon geological storage: understanding micro-mechanisms of CO2 capillary breakthrough and localized pathways to assess caprock CO2 leakage hazard”: Pedrotti, Matteo (Principal Investigator) Tarantino, Alessandro (Co-investigator) Allsop, Craig (Post Grad Student); 4-year fully funded PhD studentship awarded by CDT Geoscience and its Role in the Low Carbon Energy Transition 2020. Equivalent value £85k; 04-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2025
Unveiling processes at particle/aggregate scale controlling hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted clays: Tarantino, Alessandro (Principal Investigator) Pedrotti, Matteo (CoPI) Beber, Raniero (Post Grad Student); Xray Compute Tomography to investigate the processes at particle/aggregate scale controlling hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted clays. Neutron and X-ray Tomography in Grenoble (France) . Equivalent funding value of £60k.; 01-Jan-2021 - 30-Jan-2021