Staff profile

Alexandros is an Assistant Professor of Offshore Geotechnics within the Department of Engineering at Durham University. He received his MEng (Mining) from Technical University of Athens in 2009 (Greece), his MSc in Geomechanics from TU Delft (Netherlands) in 2012 and his PhD from UC Davis in 2018 (USA). He has worked as a researcher at the finite element software company Plaxis BV (currently part of Bentley systems) and also as a postdoctoral researcher at Chalmers University (Sweden) and Imperial College (UK).

Alexandros' research interests lies in the areas of: (i) soil and metal plasticity with a specific focus on cyclic loading and ratcheting, (ii) numerical analysis of geotechnical problems (iii) soil-atmosphere interaction modelling and coupled phenomena in geotechnics (iv) non-destructive soil testing with the use of XRCT.

• Development of a mini-triaxial apparatus for testing with XRCT
• Development of a soil constitutive model for cyclic loading and ratcheting of offshore sands
• Metal plasticity for uniaxial and multiaxial ratcheting
• Numerical modelling of offshore structures

Chapter in book

• In Situ Stress Assessment Based on Width and Depth of Brittle Borehole Breakouts
  
  Gerolymatou, E., & Petalas, A. (2020). In Situ Stress Assessment Based on Width and Depth of Brittle Borehole Breakouts. In Recent Developments of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnics in Theory and Practice (pp. 297-319). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28516-6_16

Conference Proceeding

• UKACM Proceedings 2024
  (2024, April). UKACM Proceedings 2024. Presented at 2024 UK Association for Computational Mechanics Conference, Durham, UK

Journal Article

• Engineering soil barriers to minimise annual shrinkage/swelling in plastic clays
  
  Tsiampousi, A., Day, C., & Petalas, A. (2024). Engineering soil barriers to minimise annual shrinkage/swelling in plastic clays. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 38, Article 100540. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2024.100540
• Bounding surface plasticity model modification for ratcheting of metals
  Dafalias, Y. F., Petalas, A. L., & Feigenbaum, H. (2023). Bounding surface plasticity model modification for ratcheting of metals. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 281, Article 112412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2023.112412
• Assessing static liquefaction triggering considering fabric anisotropy effects under the ACST framework
  
  Bokkisa, S. V., Macedo, J., Petalas, A. L., & Arson, C. (2022). Assessing static liquefaction triggering considering fabric anisotropy effects under the ACST framework. Computers and Geotechnics, 148, Article 104796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2022.104796
• Numerical investigation of the performance of engineered barriers in controlling stormwater runoff
  
  Petalas, A. L., Tsiampousi, A., Zdravkovic, L., & Potts, D. M. (2022). Numerical investigation of the performance of engineered barriers in controlling stormwater runoff. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 32, Article 100401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2022.100401
• SANISAND-F: Sand constitutive model with evolving fabric anisotropy
  
  Petalas, A. L., Dafalias, Y. F., & Papadimitriou, A. G. (2020). SANISAND-F: Sand constitutive model with evolving fabric anisotropy. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 188-189, 12-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2019.09.005
• Implicit integration of incrementally non-linear, zero- elastic range, bounding surface plasticity
  
  Petalas, A. L., & Dafalias, Y. F. (2019). Implicit integration of incrementally non-linear, zero- elastic range, bounding surface plasticity. Computers and Geotechnics, 112, 386-402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2019.04.009
• SANISAND‐FN: An evolving fabric‐based sand model accounting for stress principal axes rotation
  Petalas, A. L., Dafalias, Y. F., & Papadimitriou, A. G. (2019). SANISAND‐FN: An evolving fabric‐based sand model accounting for stress principal axes rotation. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 43(1), 97-123. https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2855
• Finite element modelling of seismic liquefaction in soils
  
  Galavi, V., Petalas, A., & Brinkgreve, R. (2013). Finite element modelling of seismic liquefaction in soils. Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the SEAGS & AGSSEA, 44(3).

Presentation

• Improved Inference of Soil Behaviour and Model Parameters In Geotechnics Using Bayesian Methods
  
  Ouyang, M., Augarde, C., Coombs, W., Petalas, A., Knappett, J., Brown, M. J., & Alagha, A. (2025, April 23 – 2025, April 25). Improved Inference of Soil Behaviour and Model Parameters In Geotechnics Using Bayesian Methods. Presented at UK Association for Computational Mechanics Conference (UKACM2025), London, UK.