Arson Lab

The research done in Arson’s lab pertains to computational geomechanics, with a particular focus on damage and healing mechanics of polycrystalline materials, multi-scale modeling of porous media and bio-inspired geotechnical design. The modeling approaches that the group has developed have allowed a fundamental understanding of synergetic micro-mechanisms in rocks, the prediction of instabilities in geomaterials, and the simulation of concurrent fracture propagation at multiple scales. In Arson’s lab, researchers create numerical models to assess the performance and environmental impacts of underground storage and rock fracturing, explain the formation of soil from rock weathering, predict grain fragmentation under high-pressure, and optimize underground excavation, propulsion, and exploration. Homogenization, computational mechanics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and network dynamics are the pillars of their scientific work. Inter-disciplinary collaborations have enabled Arson’s group to deploy modeling strategies for civil engineering, Earth sciences, material sciences, robotics, and biology.