CAREER: Soil SWELL-SMART: Soil SWELLing Solutions through Materials that Adapt, Respond, and Transform

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award will advance the design of infrastructure systems that can adapt to ground movement caused by expansive soils. These soils undergo repeated swelling and shrinkage with changes in moisture, often leading to damage in buildings, roads, and buried pipelines. Existing engineering approaches primarily rely on resisting these movements, which can be costly and insufficient over long service lifetimes. This project introduces a new paradigm based on adaptive materials that respond to ground movement rather than oppose it. The research focuses on metallic architectured lattice materials with internal structures that enable controlled deformation and recovery, allowing infrastructure systems to maintain performance under changing conditions. By addressing a fundamental gap in how materials interact with moving ground, this work aims to improve infrastructure reliability, reduce maintenance costs, and enhance public safety. The project will also integrate research and education by training students in interdisciplinary engineering, developing hands-on learning modules, and engaging K-12 students in outreach activities, contributing to workforce development and expanding participation in engineering. The CAREER project aims to establish a mechanistic framework linking lattice architecture, material behavior, and soil-induced deformation. The central objective is to determine how the geometry and internal structure of architectured lattice materials govern their ability to accommodate ground movement while maintaining structural integrity. To achieve this, the research will combine multi-scale experiments and computational modeling. The work will examine three interconnected components: (1) characterization of lattice kinematics and reversible deformation mechanisms using three-dimensional imaging and controlled mechanical testing; (2) development of coupled computational models integrating discrete element and finite element methods to simulate soil-material interaction under swelling and shrinkage conditions; and (3) design optimization through parametric studies exploring the influence of lattice geometry, stiffness distribution, and environmental loading. Large-scale validation will be conducted in a geotechnical testing chamber to evaluate system performance under realistic conditions. By integrating experimental observations and modeling, the project will establish predictive relationships between lattice design and adaptive performance, enabling the development of infrastructure systems that can accommodate ground movement rather than resist it. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.