5.1 Main Research Areas and Contributions
The main research projects were focused on three areas soil behavior, namely expansive soil research (behavior and foundations on expansive soils), stabilization of problem geo-materials (dispersive, collapsible and expansive soils) and pavement materials.
– Expansive soils: carried out intensive research on the characterization of expansive soils in Sudan and design of foundation on soils of very high swelling potential. Several master students worked on swelling soils. Intensive laboratory and field test programs were carried out by the students under my supervision. Full scale tests were performed in Wad Medani town and in Khartoum. The research resulted in provision of guidelines for the design and construction of different foundation systems on Sudanese swelling soils (piles, raft and strip foundation). Several papers were published in international conferences and local journals. Research is going on since the year 2000 to study the effect of physic-chemical properties of our soils on their swelling and shrinkage behavior. A research fund (175000 SDG) was generated from the Ministry of High Education for this research project. As a result new approach for the quantification through testing and definition of swell potential has been introduced. A research project on the shear strength of unsaturated swelling clays and its relation to matric suction was partly finished. A paper was recently presented to the 16th African Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical engineering in Tunisia.
– Stabilization of Dispersive Geomaterials: I was an active team member of an intensive research project that continued for 18 months at BRRI in collaboration with University of Kalsruhe in Germany for the characterization and treatment of the potentially dispersive soils of Merowe dam. The research team constituted two staff members from each side. The research was requested by Dams Implementation Unit (DIU) and the International Panel of Experts of Merowe Dam for looking at means of using potentially dispersive Nile deposits as dam core material. Special equipment were availed for the project. The behavior of Nile Silt and Upper Terrace Clay deposits were thoroughly evaluated for suitably as dam core material. The soils were classified as potentially dispersive. Lime and Gypsum were studied for the treatment of dispersivity and erodibility. Intensive laboratory programs were carried out at BRRI and in Germany including scanning electron microscopy and high pressure filter tests. The high pressure filter apparatus used at BRRI was manufactured in Sudan and performed very well. The findings of this research were utilized in the design and construction of Merowe dam. The findings were published in Sudan Engineering Society Journal as well as in BRR Journal (Check publications).
– Pavement Materials: The research on pavement materials is going on. One Ph.D student finished his research project on the characterization and engineering properties of the natural unbound materials in Khartoum state. The practice of mechanical and chemical stabilization of unbound materials has been critically studied. Resilient Modulus (MR) and permanent deformation (PD) tests (dynamic tests) were performed for the first time in Sudan on pavement materials from Khartoum state. The findings have been published in local journals (two papers) and international conferences (2 papers). They will help in the understanding of the causes of failure of our major pavements and also the selection of suitable materials for their design and construction. One master student worked on the effect of fines and asphalt grade on the stability and flow characteristics of hot mix asphalt using local materials. The findings were published in Building and Road Research Journal. Another master student is working on the resilient characteristics of subgrade materials from Khartoum state. He is correlating MR with unconfined strength, DCP and un-soaked CBR. He is writing his thesis. I have recently been selected reviewer for Transportation and Geotechnics Journal published by Elsevier.
– Lime Stabilization of Tropical Soils: The tropical soils which lend themselves for improvement with lime in Sudan are the swelling clays and lateritic soils. Swelling soils cover more than 40% of the area of Sudan. They are characterized by their very high potential for swelling and shrinkage. They are very poor subgrade for roads and cause great hazard as subgrade soil. Their improvement is vital for road design and construction. Several research projects were carried out at BRRI on lime stabilization of tropical clay soils in Brazil and Sudan. I spent one year in Brasil (1999) working on a project of using lime and waste materials to stabilize lateritic clay soils. The findings were published in ASCE (Journal of environmental Engineering). Two M.Sc. students and one Ph.D. student finished their research on lime stabilization of tropical clay soils (expansive clays and clays with mixed mineralogical composition) for use in road construction. Advanced equipment have been used and interesting new findings were reached. The technical and financial viability of using hydrated lime for the stabilization of our tropical soils have been ascertained. The reaction products of tropical clays with different mineralogical composition when mixed with lime have been identified and the effect of minerslogy on the lime-soil reaction was fully understood and defined. Papers have been published in International journals (GEOMATE & EJGE) as well as local journals (BRR and SES).
5.2 Current On-Going Research Projects
M.Sc. Research Projects
1) Spatial Variability of Soil Properties in the Clay Plains of Sudan (M.Sc. Iglal Hassan Ahmed)
2) Resilient Modulus of Swelling Clay Subgrades. (M.Sc., Mohamed Awad)
3) Shear Strength of Clayey Sands of High Plasticity (M.Sc.; Malaz Alfateh)
4) Moisture Characteristic Curves for Swelling Clays (M.Sc. Rwaida Mohamed Hussain)
Ph.D Research
5) Compressibility of Swelling Clay Soils (Advisor; Ph.D Fateh Osman Ahmed)
6) Characterization of the Nubian Sandstone for Use as Building Material (Co Advisor; Ph.D Elgazoli Ahmed Hamid) Geological Department, Faculty of Science
5.3 Finished Research Projects
Master Theses
1) Evaluation of the Liquefaction Potential of Soils in Central Khartoum; Mahmood Abdelgabar; M.Sc. Structural Engineering; 1995
2) Finite Element Modeling of Pile Expansive Soil Interaction (Co-supervisor); Muzammil 1995
3) Technical and economical Evaluation of Lime Stabilization of Expansive Soils for Road Construction; Summaya Ahmed Mohd., M.Sc. Building Technology; 1996
4) Subsoil Analysis of Khartoum City; Eisa Abdalla Mohamed; M.Ec. Structural Engineering, 2003
5) Effects of Physico-chemical Properties of Expansive Soils on their Intrinsic Swelling; M.Sc. Building Technology; 2004
6) Evaluation of Improvement Techniques for Strip Foundation on Expansive Clay Soils; Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed; M.Sc. Building Technology, 2004
7) تاثير بعض العوامل غلي تصميم الخلطة الاسفلتية فى الخرطوم “ M.Sc. Building Technology, Nahla H Hamad; 2004
8) Stiffened Raft Foundation on Expansive Soils of High Potential; Omar Gurham Omar, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2005
9) Shrinkage Behavior of Expansive Clays; Hisham Hamdan Rahmatalla’ M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2005
10) Guidelines for the design of Piles in Expansive Soils; Elfateh Osman Ahmed, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2005
11) ANN for Prediction of Compression Index, Ahmed Hasan, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2005
12) Effects of Lime on the Engineering Properties of Expansive Soils from Sudan; Adil Mohd Elhassan, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2006
13) Damage Effects of Collapsible Clayey Gravel on Two Story Residential Building in Omdurman, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2004 (Yasir )
14) Effects of Moisture Content, Dry Density, Curing Time on the Erosion Resistance of Two River Nile Deposits; Hasan Amin Mohamed Ahmed, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2008
15) A Computer Program for the Classification of Local Soils; Hisham Osman Yousif, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2008
16) Swelling Potential of Some Expansive Soils from Sudan; Mazahir Mohamed Taha, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2008
17) Effect of Nile Silt Fines on the Shear Strength of Sand; Sara Hasan Saad, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2010
18) The Distribution and Properties of the Top Clay Soil in Khartoum; Waleed Hasan Ahmed, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2011
19) Bearing Capacity of Steel Pipe Piles in Expansive Soils; Rasha Abdel Rahman, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2011
20) Effect of Matric Suction on the Shear Strength of Compacted Highly Plastic Clays (M.Sc. Building Technology, Omaima Abdin Abdelaziz, 2012)
21) Laboratory Study of Some Factors Controlling Swelling Potential (Mai Abdelraheem Sufian Hamed, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2013)
22) Laboratory Study on Some Factors Controlling Swelling Pressure (Ahmed Mohamed Salam Mohamed, M.Sc. Building Technology, 2014)
23) The Influence of Matric Suction on the Shear Strength of Highly Plastic Clays (Mohamed Abedelsalam Abdalla, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2015)
24) Experimental Study of bearing Capacity of Stiff Clay over Loose Sand (Mohamed Hussain Aljaki, M.Sc. Structural Engineering, 2015)
25) Seepage Losses from Hafirs in Qoz Soils (M.Sc. Building Technology; Sanaa Kaddam, 2015)
26)Bearing Capacity of Circular Footing on Stiff Clay overlying Loose and Medium Dense Sand (M.Sc. Khalid Abdelrazig), 2016
Ph.D Theses
1) Lime Stabilization of Tropical Clay Soils from Sudan for Road Construction (Advisor, Ph.D. Adil M Elhassan, 2013)
2) Characterization and Improvement of Unbound Gravels for Use as Base Course Material (Advisor, Student: Omer Gurham Omer, 2015)
3) Lightly loaded Foundations on Expansive Soils: Numerical Simulation of Wall Heave in Sudan (Eisa Abdalla Mohamed, Ph.D in Civil Engineering); 2015; Co-advisor
5.4 Teaching
Courses Taught
| – | Soil Mechanics 3, Civil Engineering Department, University of Khartoum for 2 years |
| – | Foundation on Expansive Soils (elective); 5th year, faculty of Engineering, University of Khartoum, for 5 years |
| – | Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering; for M.Sc. Building Technology program, BRRI ( 2000 to 2015) |
| Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering; for M.Sc. Structural Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering, University of Khartoum (for 7 years) | |
| – | Pavement Design (M.Sc, SETS) Zaim Alazhari Ujniversity, for 2 years |
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5.4 Curriculum Establishment and Evaluation
5.5 Internal and External Examiner
– Internal examiner for more than 40 Master students at BRRI and Faculty of engineering
– Internal Examiner for Ph.D student Fathelrahman Eltayeb, “Performance of Laterally loaded single Piles” Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Khartoum, 2012
– Evaluated Ph.D Thesis from Sudan University of Science and Technology (2012) as third party for the Student Taha M Adam Research Title “Time-Dependent Effect of Cement Dust on Fatigue of Asphalt Pavements.
– External Examiner for Final year B.Sc. Students (Projects), University of Nyala, 20/8/2015-21/8/2015
– External examiner for 6 M.Sc. projects, Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST) 2000 to date
– Kamal Masoud Margi, M.Sc. Highway Engineering (by research), SUST
– Abdelgabar
– Ayman Babiker Khider January, “Implementation of Recent Techniques on project Management and Planning of Roads and Airports in Sudan”; 2011
– Mashair A.Rahim Mohamed, “Development and Application of Software Program for Pavement Design Methods”; 2011
– Mohamed Eisa Abdalla, “The Application of Micro-Paver Program for PMMS of Sudan Roads”; 2011
– Fadwa Qasim Elsheikh, “Comparative Feasibility study of Rigid versus Flexible Pavements for National highways and State Roads in Sudan”; 2014
5.6 Paper Review
Reviewed technical articles for the following Journals and Conferences
5.7 Promotion Evaluation
Evaluated Dr Sami Abdella Osman, Civil Engineering Department, Sudan University of Science and Technology for the promotion to Associate Professor, April 2011
