Biography

Ignazio Cavarretta, received a first class honours Master Degree in Civil Engineering (Laurea cum laude, 5 year course) from the University of Palermo and a PhD degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Imperial College London. He joined Imperial College in October 2005. His PhD dissertation, submitted in September 2009, is entitled “The influence of particle characteristics on the engineering behaviour of granular materials”. In October 2009 he joined the University of Bristol as research assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering, were he worked on advanced testing of granular materials using the cubical cell apparatus (CCA). In July 2011 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in in Geotechnical Engineering/Infrastructure at the University of Surrey.

Before joining Imperial College, he served as a consultant on geotechnical works including foundations, retaining structures, tunnels and dams. He gained extensive design experience, developing projects for hydraulic and structural works. Chartered civil engineer in Italy, his activity covered all stages of the construction process from design to completion, monitoring and the refurbishment of old buildings. He proposed new and successful criteria, including measures to restore the upstream water tightness of embankment dams experiencing erosion through metal drain inlets and the stress analysis of a jet grouted wall protecting a circular excavation under a high hydraulic gradient.

During his PhD studies he designed a new apparatus for measuring inter-particle friction and proposed a new model for contact between irregular grains which accounts for the shape and the mechanical properties of the particles. Using image analysis, he developed a technique for an objective evaluation of sphericity and roundness of natural grains. His current research interests are in the study of the mechanics of granular materials.

Research Interests

Publications

Cavarretta, I. and O'Sullivan, C. (2012). "The mechanics of rigid irregular particles subject to uniaxial compression". Géotechnique 62, No. 8, 681-692, doi: 10.1680/geot.10.P.102.

Altuhafi, F., O’Sullivan, C., Cavarretta, I. and Labinski, E. (2012) “Analysis of an image based method for size and shape quantification of sand” ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, accepted for publication.

Cavarretta, I., O'Sullivan, C., Ibraim, E., Lings, M., Hamlin, S. and Muir Wood, D. (2012). "Characterization of artificial, spherical particles for DEM validation studies". Particuology 10, No. 2, 209-220, doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2011.10.007.

Cavarretta, I., Coop, M.R. and Rocchi, I. (2011). "A new inter-particle friction apparatus for granular materials". Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 48, No. 12, 1829-1840, doi: 10.1139/T11-077.

Cavarretta, I., Coop, M.R. and O’ Sullivan, C. (2010). “The influence of particle characteristics on the behaviour of coarse grained soils”. Géotechnique 60, No. 6, 413-423, doi: 10.1680/geot.2010.60.6413.

Cavarretta, I. (2010). “On the non-uniformity of the triaxial stress imposed in the cubical cell apparatus (CCA)”. Eleventh Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Symposium, BGA, University of Bristol, technical session 4, analytical and numerical methods, 71-72. 

Cavarretta, I., O’ Sullivan, C. and Coop, M.R. (2009). “Applying 2D shape analysis techniques to granular materials with 3D particle geometries”. AIP Conf. Proc. 1145, 833-836, doi: 10.1063/1.3180057.

Cavarretta, I. (2008). “The influence of particle characteristics on the engineering behaviour of sands”. Tenth Young Geotechnical Engineers’ Symposium, BGA, U.C.L., London.

Cavarretta, I. and Gangitano, L. (2006). “A low gravity dam in difficult subsoil conditions”, Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Large Dams. ICOLD, Barcelona, June.

Cavarretta, I. (2004). “Evaluating safety levels in civil engineering works and related measures”, Proceedings of the XXII National Conference on Geotechnics. A.G.I., Palermo, 22 - 24 September. (Paper selected for oral presentation at the Conference).

Jappelli, R., Mongiovi', L., Cavarretta, I. (1987). “Mechanical response of embankment-diaphragm wall systems”. Groundwater effects in geotechnical engineering, Proceedings of the ninth European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Dublin, 31 August - 3 September.

Cavarretta, I. (1986). “Stabilizzazione di sponda fluviale con paratia al piede”, Proceedings of the XVI National Conference on Geotechnics, A.G.I.. Bologna, 14-16, May.

Cavarretta, I. (1986). “La vasca di accumulo fuori alveo sul torrente Mazzaronello”; AGI news - anno V, N. 2, May.

Teaching

Soil Mechanics: Groundwater and seepage, soil stresses, retaining structures, element testing.

Integrated Design 2 - Civil Engineering.

Multidisciplinary Design Projects.

Departmental Duties

Civil & Environmental Engineering Examiner Officer

Affiliations

- Ordine degli Ingegneri Pa N. 3325 (Civil Engineer Grade A - Equivalent to Chartered Status in UK)

- A.G.I.. Associazione Geotecnica Italiana (Italian Geotechnical Association)

- ITCOLD (Italian Committee on Large Dams - ICOLD)

- British Geotechnical Association - BGA

Funded Projects

 'An Experimental Determination of the Inter-Particle Contact Behaviour of Sands' funded by the 'GRF' (General Research Fund ) scheme of Hong Kong. Duration 3 years from 1st January 2013. Project No. 112712. Principal investigator: Prof. M. R. Coop. Co-investigators: Dr. I. Cavarretta, Dr. J. Wang. Amount: £56k.

'Bridging the Gaps - Light, Creative Engagement and Environment' funded by University of Surrey, EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). Duration (phase1 and phase 2) 15 months from 1st January 2012. Team members: Dr. V. Alexander, Dr. S. Andrews, Prof. D. Bradley, Dr. I. Cavarretta, Dr. K. Hild. Amount: £22k.

‘Proposal For a new Soil Mechanics Research  Laboratory’.  Funded by University of Surrey. Report proposal prepared in cooperation with Mr Chris Russel 13-02-2012. Approved for Funding by Surrey’s University Capital Funding Committee, Amount: £478k.

Applications

Dr Ignazio Cavarretta is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.