Stanford University will host the International Workshop on Multiscale and Multiphysics Processes in Geomechanics June 23-25, 2010. The workshop will highlight the diverse and complex processes encountered in geomechanics in terms of scale (from nanometer to kilometer) and scientific scope. Topics of interest include coupled physics phenomena such as thermo-poro-mechanical and electro-poro-mechanical processes, chemical species reactivity and transport, liquefaction and solidification of sediments, strain localization phenomena, double porosity continua, and frictional faulting and fluid flow in porous solids. The workshop will also focus on multiscale numerical techniques, including the lattice Boltzmann, discrete element, finite element and finite volume methods, as well as the laboratory and field investigation methods supporting these numerical techniques. This project provides funds to support younger scientists from U.S. schools (new assistant professors, postdoctoral students, and Ph.D. students in advanced stages of thesis development) so they may be able to travel to Stanford University and participate in the workshop. The Workshop will bring together researchers working on many central challenges facing modern geomechanics. A key strength of the forthcoming workshop is the diversity of research backgrounds, methods, and applications that will be represented. Apart from the area of geomechanics, the broader impact of the workshop spans many other disciplines in science and engineering, including geophysics, geosciences, mechanical engineering, and biomechanics. For example, coupled multiscale and multiphysics phenomena, such as chemo-, poro-, electro-, thermo-, and biomechanics, are characteristic problems in nearly all branches of engineering.
Following the successful International Workshop on Modern Trends in Geomechanics held in Vienna in 2005, Stanford University hosted its sequel, The International Workshop on Multiscale and Multiphysics Processes in Geomechanics. The workshop highlighted the diverse and complex processes encountered in geomechanics in terms of scale (from nanometer to kilometer) and scientific scope. Topics covered in the workshop included coupled physics phenomena such as thermo-poro-mechanical and electro-poro-mechanical processes, chemical species reactivity and transport, liquefaction and solidification of sediments, strain localization phenomena, double porosity continua, and frictional faulting and fluid flow in porous solids. The workshop also covered contributions dealing with the development of multiscale numerical techniques and the laboratory and field investigation methods supporting these numerical techniques. The workshop was a big success, participated in by over 80 participants including international and local researchers and students. Forty nine extended abstracts have been submitted and published in the book series, Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Peer-reviewed articles are still being submitted for consideration in the international journal Acta Geotechnica, also published by Springer. The workshop was an excellent training ground for young researchers and scholars. It provided the students and young scholars opportunity to participate in an international workshop and meet the leading scholars in the field of geomechanics.
