Tiago Gaspar graduated from the University of Pretoria (UP) with a BEng degree in 2014, BHons (cum laude) in 2015 and an MEng (cum laude) in geotechnical engineering in 2017. His masters research involved the investigation of the tensile behaviour of unsaturated soils using the Brazilian disc test (BDT).

For his dissertation, BDTs were conducted in conjunction with digital image correlation (DIC) such that surface displacements of the samples under loading could be investigated. This research helped highlight some practical considerations of performing indirect tensile testing on unsaturated soils.

Currently he is enrolled for a PhD at UP and is investigating the design of piled foundations for wind turbines in unsaturated expansive soils. This research forms part of the Wind-Africa project funded by The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC - UK) and involves a collaboration between the universities of Pretoria, Durham, Cambridge and Khartoum. Tiago’s PhD research is focused primarily on specialised laboratory testing and centrifuge modelling.

Tiago is also taking part in a PhD exchange program with Durham University funded by the Newton Fund (UK). This opportunity has allowed him to work alongside leading researchers and gain experience in the specialised laboratory testing of unsaturated soils.

Publications

Gaspar, T.A.V., Smit, G., Jacobsz, S.W. & Osman, A.S. 2019. An expansive clay for centrifuge modelling. Proceedings of the XVII ECSMGE. Reykjavik, Iceland. Accepted for publication

Smit, G., Jacobsz, S.W., Gaspar, T.A.V. & Osman, A.S. 2019. Centrifuge modelling of pile pull-out tests in expansive soil. Proceedings of the XVII ECSMGE. Reykjavik, Iceland. Accepted for publication.

Gaspar, T.A.V., Jacobsz, S.W., Schulz-Poblete, M.V. & Toll, D.G. 2019. Measurement of the soil water retention curve: practical considerations. XVII African Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Cape Town, South Africa. Accepted for publication

Gaspar, T.A.V., Jacobsz, S.W. 2019. Towards the application of unsaturated soil mechanics in practice. Civil Engineering, April 2019. SAICE, pp. 69-73

Gaspar, T.A.V. A comparison of swell prediction methods to centrifuge testing. 7^th African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Cape Town, South Africa. Accepted for publication

Gaspar, T.A.V. 2017. Investigating the tensile behaviour of unsaturated gold tailings using the Brazilian Disc Test. Proceedings of the 9th South African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Durban, South Africa

Gaspar, T.A.V. 2017. Investigating the tensile behaviour of unsaturated gold tailings using the Brazilian Disc Test. Proceedings of the 9th South African Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Durban, South Africa

Gaspar, T.A.V. 2017. Investigating the tensile behaviour of unsaturated soils using the Brazilian disc test. MEng thesis. University of Pretoria

Gaspar, T.A.V. 2016. Measuring the tensile strength of gold tailings. Proceedings of the First Southern African Geotechnical Conference. Pretoria, South Africa: CRC Press/Balkema, pp. 301-306

Gaspar, T.A.V. 2014. Strength Prediction of Unsaturated Soils. Unpublished BEng Research Project. University of Pretoria.

Contact

[email protected]