Academic staff

Abdul-Hamid SOUBRA

Professor of Civil Engineering - University of Nantes.

Département de Physique

Contact details

Université de Nantes - Faculté des sciences et des techniques - Bd. de l'université - CS 70 152 - 44603 Saint-Nazaire cedex - France.

Office: 226-4
Phone: 0249142242 (n° interne : 472242)
Phone 2: 0272648718 (n° interne : 478718)
Email: Abed.Soubra@univ-nantes.fr

Taught academic discipline(s)

One course of Soil Mechanics in the Civil Engineering Bachelor degree (University of Nantes, France)
Three courses in Geotechnical Engineering in the Civil Engineering Master degree (University of Nantes, France)
One course on Reliability Analysis of Civil Engineering Structures in the Civil Engineering Master degree (Centrale Nantes, France).

Research topics

I. My current research interests focus on the probabilistic dynamic analysis of complex soil-structure interaction problems in offshore engineering such as the case of an Offshore Wind Turbine OWT founded on a large diameter monopile, taking into account (i) the different interactions between the soil, the monopile foundation and the superstructure and (ii) the uncertainties related to the soil and wave and wind loadings.

Here are some current research topics:

1. Calculation of the natural frequencies of a monopile-supported offshore wind turbine taking into account the soil-foundation-structure interaction;

2. Active control of the vibrations of a monopile-supported offshore wind turbine taking into account the soil-structure interaction;

3. Numerical modeling of the installation process of offshore foundations (e.g., monopiles, helical anchors) into the soil;

4. Probabilistic analysis of offshore foundations (e.g., monopiles, helical anchors, bucket foundations, spudcans) taking into account the soil and the environmental loading uncertainties.

II. Previous research interests focused on the probabilistic analysis of more classical geotechnical structures. Applications emphasized on foundations and tunnels. Other research interests involved the study of several classical stability problems in Geotechnical Engineering (slope stability, tunnels, bearing capacity of foundations, active and passive earth pressures) using the limit analysis theory.

Activities / Resume

Education

Accreditation to Supervise Research in Civil Engineering, Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France, December 1999.
PhD in Civil Engineering, INSA Lyon, France, January 1989.
Master Degree in Civil Engineering, INSA Lyon, France, June 1985.
Certificate of Higher Studies in Civil Engineering, ENTPE Lyon, France, June 1985.
Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering, BAU, Lebanon, 1979-1984.

Professional Work Experience

Professor, University of Nantes, France, since Sep. 2000.
Associate Professor, INSA Strasbourg, France, 1995-2000.
Assistant Professor, INSA Strasbourg, France, 1989-1995.
Senior Lecturer, IUT Saint-Nazaire, France, 1988-1989.
Lecturer, INSA Lyon, France, 1987-1988.

Professional activities

Editorial activities:

Associate Editor (AE), J. Geotech. & Geoenv. Engrg., ASCE, since November 2009.
Managing Editor (ME), Georisk, Assessment and management of risk for engineered systems and geohazards, since April 2013.
Editorial Board Member (EBM), Georisk, Assessment and management of risk for engineered systems and geohazards, from March 2008 to April 2013.
Editorial Board Member (EBM), Geomechanics & Engineering, since 2008.
Editorial Board Member (EBM), Acta geotechnica slovenica, since 2004.

Membership in scientific and professionnal organizations:

Member of the ASCE Geo-Institute, Risk Assessment and Management (GI-RAM), since March 2008.
Member, American Society of Civil Engineers, since September 1999.
Member, French Committee on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.

Additional information

Administrative tasks:

Head of the Civil Engineering Master degree, University of Nantes (France), since September 2017.
Head of the Bachelor degree in Engineering Sciences, University of Nantes (France), since September 2016.
Member of the council of trustees of the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University of Nantes (France).

Recent Accepted Research Projects:

October 2016 – October 2019: WEAMEC ROS-3D project. Funded by WEAMEC (110,700 euros). Title: Reliability analysis of Offshore Structures taking into account the three-dimensional (3D) soil spatial variability (https://www.weamec.fr/projets/ros-3d/).
October 2018 – October 2021: WEAMEC DYNA project. Funded by WEAMEC (136,700 euros). Title: DYNAmic analysis of an offshore wind turbine taking into account the soil-foundation-structure interaction (https://www.weamec.fr/projets/dyna/).
October 2019 – October 2020: WEAMEC ANCRE_EMR project. Funded by WEAMEC (67,000 euros). Title: Numerical modelling of offshore ANChors for floating structuREs (https://www.weamec.fr/projets/ancre_emr/).

Mis à jour le 12 April 2024.