UCLA Civil & Environmental Engineering Department

C&EE 200 Section 1 Seminar

Structural, Geotechnical and Civil Engineering Materials

 Geotechnical Risk Assessment for Subsurface Infrastructure and Energy Systems

 Rita Sousa, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Khalifa University of Science and Technology

Engineers, urban planners, and policy makers are constantly faced with making decisions that depend on uncertain environmental, social and financial factors, as well as the complex and often uncertain interactions between them. This is particularly true with regard to decisions concerning the subsurface since much is unknown.

In this seminar, I present my work on the geomechanics of the subsurface in two parts, the first deals with infrastructure systems, and the second with energy systems.  In the first part, I present a decision support system that was developed to optimize tunnel alignments and construction strategies based on uncertain geological and construction conditions. A geologic prediction model based on tunnel boring data using Bayesian Networks forms the basis for the quantitative risk analyses.  The system was applied to the underground subway lines in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and in Porto, Portugal. In the second part, I present planning tools that were developed to optimize hydro-fracturing treatments for hydrocarbon reservoirs. A new stochastic fracture initiation and propagation model (FRACPROP) was created and integrated into GEOFRAC, a natural fracture network model developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The simulated fractures are in agreement with the results of fracturing tests conducted at the rock mechanics laboratories at MIT. This work is part of a project for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Future directions to refine and build resilience into infrastructure and energy systems such as incorporating the hazards from natural threats, are also discussed with the ultimate goal of planning and delivering these systems sustainably.

Where: A2 Haines Hall

When: 4:00 – 5:00 PM on Thursday, March 6, 2018

Rita Sousa is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering at Masdar Institute, now part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She received her B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, M.S. from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausees, Paris, France, and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Engineering. Dr. Sousa was a post-doctoral associate at MIT from 2010 to 2013 where she worked on Enhanced Geothermal Systems for the Department of Energy. Dr. Sousa’s expertise includes geomechanics, risk assessment in geotechnical engineering, and subsurface stochastic characterization.