Background

Background

Dr Sadegh Nadimi is an engineering scientist and Lecturer (Assist. Prof) in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. He holds a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from City, University of London and an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering from Newcastle University. Following the award of his doctorate, Sadegh moved to the University of Leeds as Post-doctoral Research Fellow to focus on tribology of particulate solids, working with Prof Mojtaba Ghadiri, FREng and Prof Anne Neville, FREng, FRS.

In 2014, Sadegh was awarded a full University Doctoral Scholarship to study the multiscale nature of soil at London Geotechnical Centrifuge Centre, City University of London, under the supervision of Dr Joana Fonseca and Prof Neil Taylor.  Before his PhD study, he joined an engineering consultancy for two years to supervise geotechnical site investigations.  He was involved in a world-class research project during his MSc at Newcastle University called the Round Robin Tunnel Test (organised by Universities of Cambridge and Napoli Federico II) to predict the centrifuge data by advanced finite element modelling.  He has gained a great deal of experience in repeatedly running large complex nonlinear numerical analyses.  He has been actively engaged in ground engineering research since the second year of his undergraduate course through his tutor’s industrial research work.

Sadegh is committed to advancing fundamental engineering research and teaching.  He is an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) and has been involved in teaching since 2015. In July 2016, Sadegh was awarded the prize for the best presentation at the Young Geotechnical Engineers Symposium (YGES) organised by the British Geotechnical Association.

 

Membership of Learned Societies

Committee Member of IOP Applied Mechanics Group from 2020 to 2024

Member of International Technical Committee of ISSMGE (TC105, TC211, TC306) since 2019

Member of Institute of Physics (IOP) since 2018

Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (HEA) since 2015

Member of British Geotechnical Association (BGA) since 2011

Research

Available PhD Opportunities

Improved understanding of geothermal energy through a multiscale modelling approach (collaboration with the University of Glasgow) Link

From energy geostructures to urban heat islands: how subsurface interfaces will respond to temperature variations? (Collaboration with Heriot-Watt University) Link

How soil characteristics affect the efficiency of energy geostructures? (Collaboration with Heriot-Watt University) Link

Research Interests

Multi-scale computational modelling of granular materials

Studying interfacial processes at particle-to-particle and particle-to-structure contacts

Image-based Geotechnics – application of imaging techniques, such as X-ray tomography, PIV, and DIC in particle characterisation, centrifuge modelling, offshore foundation, settlement monitoring, etc.

Railway Infrastructure – Sanding in wheel/rail contact tribology, modelling degradation of ballasted track

 

Funded Projects

2019-2021 (PI) Joint JSPS-Royal Society, International Exchanges 2018 Cost Share - IEC\R3\183026 with collaboration of University of Tokyo - Entitled: The role of particle shape and surface friction on interlocking phenomenon for granular materials.

2018-2020 (Co-I) Newton Fund, Royal Academy of Engineering, with collaboration of University of Cape Town in South Africa - Entitled: CAPE Partnership – Characterisation Advances in Particle Engineering.

2017-2022 (Co-I) EPSRC, Friction: The Tribology Enigma - EP/R001766/1

 

Consultancy Projects

2020 - Rail Standard Safety Board (RSSB) - Sand Consist Change for Improved Track Circuit Performance

2019 - Hewlett-Packard (hp) - Particle characterisation and modelling of metal 3D printing

 

PhD Supervisions

Bin Zhang (funded by CSC) - Granular simulation based on image analysis and particle morphology

Vasileios Angelidakis (funded by Newcastle University) - Discrete element modelling of polyhedral particles: application to materials with highly angular grains

Cailin Wang (University of Leeds) - Determination of thickness and air-void distribution within the iron carbonate layer using X-ray computed tomography

 

Esteem Indicators

Sadegh regularly reviews for 10 international journals, such as Géotechnique, Granular Matter, Computational Particle Mechanics, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, and ASCE Journal of Computing in Civil Eng.

Organising 17^th Annual UK Workshop on Geomechanics from Micro to Macro - GM3 (Dec 2020).

Member of Organising Committee of 16th European Symposium on Comminution & Classification (ESCC2019) at Leeds (UK) on 2nd-4th September 2019.

Member of Organising Committee of Powders and Granular Materials Challenges and Future Trends at Montpellier (France) 6th-7th June 2019.

Teaching

Postgraduate Teaching

CEG8210 Soil Mechanics and Ground Characterisations (Module Leader, contributing 40%)                               

CEG8211 Ground Engineering Practice and Professional Skills (contributing 2%)                                                                                        

CEG8214 Soil Modelling and Numerical Methods (contributing 20%)                                             

CEG8215 Foundation Design and Soil Improvement Solutions (contributing 40%) 

Undergraduate Teaching

CEG2201 Geotechnics (Module Leader, contributing 100%)

 

Project Supervision

CEG8296 MSc Project in Geotechnical Engineering (Module Leader, supervising ~3 projects annually)                                           

CEG8297 MSc Project in Engineering Geology (Module Leader, supervising ~3 projects annually)

CEG8099 Investigative Research Project (supervising ~1 project annually)

CEG3099 Individual Project (supervising ~2 projects annually)

 

Current and Previous Master Students

Amy Pritchett (MSc 2020-21): Influence of grain shape on the dynamics of hillslope creep

Jack Welch (MSc 2020-21): Modelling friction and abrasion in railway ballast

Daniel Sultana (MSc 2020-21): Modelling fracturing process using Lattice Element Method

Nina Kemp (MSc 2020-21): How do roots interact with structured soils?

Liam Leung (MEng 2020-21): Influence of particle shape modelling on simulations of two geotechnical tests

Clinton Chou (MEng 2020-21): How soil characteristics affect the efficiency of energy geostrucutres?

Jack Collishaw (MSc 2019-20): Modelling fracturing process of sandstone

Ivan Cheung (MSc 2019-20): Modelling friction and abrasion in railway ballast

Nathan Freeman (MSc 2019-20): Numerical modelling of degradation of ballasted rail track

Zac Herrod (MSc 2019-20): Influence of grain shape on the dynamics of hillslope creep and landsliding

Thomas Kunnathu (MSc 2019-20): Surface characterisation of sand particles

Mark Bradley (MSc 2018-19): An investigation of the effects of backing material on masonry arch bridges

Leung Ka (MSc 2018-19): Numerical modelling of the seismic response of tunnels observed in centrifuge experiments

Publications

• Nadimi s, Ghanbarzadeh A, Hassanpour A, Neville A. A discussion on the capability of X-ray computed tomography for contact mechanics investigations. Tribology International 2020, 151, 106433.
• Wang C, Hua Y, Nadimi S, Taleb W, Barker R, Li Y, Chen X, Neville A. Determination of thickness and air-void distribution within the iron carbonate layers using X-ray computed tomography. Corrosion Science 2020, epub ahead of print.
• Nadimi S, Ghanbarzadeh A, Neville A, Ghadiri M. Effect of particle roughness on the bulk deformation using coupled boundary element and discrete element methods. Computational Particle Mechanics 2020, 7, 603–613.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J, Ando E, Viggiani G. A micro finite-element model for soil behaviour: experimental evaluation for sand under triaxial compression. Géotechnique 2019, 70(10), 931-936.
• Nadimi S, Otsubo M, Fonseca J, O'Sullivan C. Numerical modelling of rough particle contacts subject to normal and tangential loading. Granular Matter 2019, 21, 108.
• Skipper WA, Nadimi S, Chalisey A, Lewis R. Particle characterisation of rail sands for understanding tribological behaviour. Wear 2019, 432–433, 202960.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. Image based simulation of one-dimensional compression tests on carbonate sand. Meccanica : An International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics 2019, 54(4-5), 697–706.
• Ghadiri M, Pasha M, Nan W, Hare C, Vivacqua V, Zafar U, Nezamabadi S, Lopez A, Pasha M, Nadimi S. Cohesive Powder Flow: Trends and Challenges in Characterisation and Analysis. KONA Powder and Particle Journal 2020, epub ahead of print.
• Ghadiri M, Matsusaka S, Pasha M, Nan W, Hare C, Vivacqua V, Zafar U, Nezamabadi S, Lopez A, Pasha M, Nadimi S. Rheometry of Cohesive Powder Flow. The Micromeritics 2020, 63, 3-12.
• Ghadiri M, Bonakdar T, Nadimi S. Breakage of Particles in Gas Phase. In: Ko Higashitani, Hisao Makino, Shuji Matsusaka, ed. Powder Technology Handbook. CRC Press, 2019, pp.584. In Press.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. A micro finite-element model for soil behaviour. Géotechnique 2018, 68(4), 290-302.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. A micro finite element model for soil behaviour: numerical validation. Géotechnique 2018, 68(4), 364-369.
• Nan W, Pasha M, Bonakdar T, Lopez A, Zafar U, Nadimi S, Ghadiri M. Jamming during particle spreading in additive manufacturing. Powder Technology 2018, 338, 253-262.
• Nan W, Pasha M, Bonakdar T, Lopez A, Zafar U, Nadimi S, Ghadiri M. Corrigendum to “Jamming during particle spreading in additive manufacturing” [Powder Technol. 338 (2018) 253–262]. Powder Technology 2019, 347, 255-255.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. Single grain virtualisation for contact behaviour analysis on sand. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering 2017, 143(9), 06017010.
• Le BT, Nadimi S, Goodey RJ, Taylor RN. System to measure three-dimensional movements in physical models. Géotechnique Letters 2016, 6(4), 256–262.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. Enhancing soil sample preparation by thermal cycling. Géotechnique 2016, 66(11), 953-958.
• Fonseca J, Nadimi S, Reyes-Aldasoro CC, OSullivan C, Coop MR. Image-based investigation into the primary fabric of stress transmitting particles in sand. Soils and Foundations 2016, 56(5), 818-834.
• Otsubo M, Liu J, Dutta TT, Kuwano R, Nadimi S. Influence of Particle Shape on Stiffness and Strength Anisotropy of Pluviated Granular Materials. In: VI International Conference on Particle-Based Methods. 2019, Barcelona: International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE).
• Nadimi S, Otsubo M. Effect of Grain Morphology on Contact Behaviour. In: VI International Conference on Particle-Based Methods. 2019, Barcelona: International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE).
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. A laboratory-based technique for grain size and shape characterisation. In: The XVII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. 2019, Reykjavik, Iceland: The Icelandic Geotechnical Society.
• Safari M, Nadimi S, Deglon D, Filho L, Souza T. Investigating the Effect of Particle Characteristics on Iron Ore Separation using X-ray Micro Tomography. In: 16th European Symposium on Comminution & Classification (ESCC 2019). 2019, Leeds: University of Leeds.
• Ghadiri M, Nadimi S, Pasha M, ed. 16th European Symposium on Comminution and Classification: book of extended abstracts. Leeds: University of Leeds, 2019.
• Nadimi S, Skipper W, Ghadiri M, Lewis R. DEM Insight on Manipulating Friction by Rail Sanding. In: 8th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods. 2019, The Netherlands.
• Nadimi S, Pencheva P, Ghadiri M. DEM Simulation of Mechanofusion System. In: 8th International Conference on Discrete Element Methods. 2019, The Netherlands.
• Nadimi S, Bai M, Inkson B, Neville A, Ghadiri M. The role of glidants in interparticle friction. In: International Congress on Particle Technology (PARTEC 2019). 2019, Nuremberg, Germany: PARTEC.
• Nadimi S, Ghanbarzadeh A, Ghadiri M, Neville A. Discrete element modelling of shear deformation of rough particles. In: 6th European Conference on Computational Mechanics (ECCM 6); 7th European Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics (ECFD 7). 2018, Glasgow, UK: International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE).
• Fonseca J, Nadimi S, Kong D. Image-Based Modelling of Shelly Carbonate Sand for Foundation Design of Offshore Structures. In: Proceedings of the 1st Vietnam Symposium on Advances in Offshore Engineering. 2018, Hanoi, Vietnam: Springer.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. On the tensile strength of soil grains in Hertzian response. In: 8th international conference on micromechanics on granular media. 2017, Montpellier, France: EPJ Web of Conferences.
• Nadimi S, Di Pasquale L, Fonseca J. Influence of fine fraction on breakage of binary granular materials. In: 19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. 2017, Seoul, South Korea: International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J. On the torsional loading of elastic-plastic spheres in contact. In: 8th International Conference on Micromechanics on Granular Media. 2017, Montpellier, France: EPJ Web of Conferences.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J, Barreto D, Taylor RN. A new approach to investigate the particle size effects in centrifuge modelling. In: 3rd European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics. 2016, Nantes, France.
• Nadimi S, Divall S, Fonseca J, Goodey R, Taylor RN. An addendum for particle image velocimetry in centrifuge modelling. In: 3rd European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics. 2016, Nantes, France.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J, Besuelle P, Viggiani G. A microstructural finite element analysis of cement damaging on Fontainebleau Sandstone. In: 2nd International Conference on Tomography of Materials and Structures. 2015, Québec, Canada: INRS-ETE.
• Nadimi S, Fonseca J, Taylor RN. A microstructure-based finite element analysis of the response of sand. In: 6th international symposium on deformation characteristics of geomaterials. 2015, Buenos Aires, Argentina: IOS Press.
• Elia G, Rouainia M, Nadimi-Shahraki S. Blind prediction of the seismic response of tunnels. In: World Tunnel Congress (WTC2013) Underground: The Way to the Future!. 2013, Geneva, Switzerland: Taylor & Francis.