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Thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Hong Kong Marine Clay

by
Dr. Zejian Chen
(Research Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Date

24 July 2025

Time

10:30 am

About 

Synopsis

In many energy geotechnical facilities, such as submarine pipelines/cables, energy piles/tunnels, the long-term hydro-mechanical properties of surrounding soft soils are significantly affected by temperature, challenging the stability and serviceability of energy structures. Laboratory studies demonstrated that consolidation, compression, and shear characteristics of Hong Kong marine clay are affected by the loading and temperature history. The creep rate depends on the effective stress, strain, and temperature state of the soil. Based on the elastic visco-plastic and critical state mechanics theories, a thermal-elastic-viscoplastic constitutive model is developed. Through finite element method, thermo-hydro-mechanical coupled simulations of several structures in soft soils are further conducted to evaluate the long-term performance.


About the Speaker

Dr Zejian Chen is currently a Research Assistant Professor at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University (2017) and his PhD from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2022). Dr Chen’s research focuses on constitutive modelling, experimental studies, and numerical simulations of soft soils, with particular interest in thermal elastic visco-plastic models, thermal and multi-physics effects in clayey soils for applications of energy geotechnics and ground improvement. He is a member of TC214 of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He has participated in over 10 research and consultancy projects and taught Soil Mechanics and Advanced Soil Mechanics at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.


Fee :

Free of charge


Registration :

Please register by 18:30 on 24 July 2025. Successful applicants will receive webinar details after registration. CPD certificate will be sent to the attendees, who attended more than 80% of the webinar time, within 2 weeks after the webinar.


Book Prize :

Professionals under 35 years of age are encouraged to submit a Book Prize Report (max. 500 words) on webinars and site visits arranged by AGS (HK).

Contributors to successful Book Prize Reports will be awarded a Book Prize that comprises of a book "Geology of Site Investigation Boreholes in Hong Kong" written by Chris Fletcher, and a coupon of HK$500 for Eslite Spectrum (誠品生活) or equivalent. The successful Book Prize Report will also be published on the AGS (HK) website to showcase your accomplishment.

Prior to report submission, please refer to the “The AGS Book Prize Reports – Assessment Framework”* on the AGS (HK) website. You may submit your Book Prize Report to our assessors by uploading the report file through the AGS (HK) website at https://www.ags-hk.org/book-prize. Should you have any questions, please contact us at agshk@meinhardt.com.hk.


*Link to the AGS Book Prize Reports – Assessment Framework:

https://www.ags-hk.org/_files/ugd/521a4c_b94496034732484687441cf4ed4d0bf9.pdf


       

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Keywords: Marine

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