Geotechnical
(850) 410-6661
abichou@eng.fsu.edu
Dr. Abichou’s research, academic, and professional background have focused on the environmental geotechnics field, which combines the traditional geotechnical engineering discipline with environmental and natural resources applications. Some of his research activities include primarily designing, analyzing, and testing geotechnical components of landfills and other waste containment structures. These projects include experimental studies in the field and lab and modeling studies performed on computers. He also researched the beneficial use of industrial by-products, such as foundry sand, foundry slag, fly ash, bottom ash, and shredded tire chips in civil engineering applications. These applications include structural fills, road base and sub-base, flowable fills, and landfill applications. Dr. Abichou is presently involved in a national research project named Alternative Cover Assessment Project (ACAP) investigating alternative ways to cover solid waste facilities. The ACAP team consists of several scientists and engineers from both academic institutions and corporations under the direction of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory (USEPA-NRMRL) in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Environmental geotechnics
Geotechnical engineering
Performance of waste containment systems
Beneficial use of industrial by-products
Groundwater remediation
Flow in porous media
Selected Publications
Abichou, T., Benson, C., and Edil, T. (2000), “Foundry Green Sand as Hydraulic Barriers: Laboratory Study,” J. of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 126, No. 12, pp. 1174-1183.
Abichou, T., Benson, C., and Edil, T. (1998), “Database on Beneficial Reuse of Foundry By-Products,” Recycled Materials in Geotechnical Applications, GSP 79, ASCE, pp. 210-223.
Abichou, T., Benson, C., and Edil, T. (2000), “Beneficial Reuse of Industrial By-Products in Urban Infrastructure,” Proceedings 8th GLGG Conference, Detroit Michigan, May 2000.
Benson, C., Abichou T., Olson, M., and Bosscher, P. (1995), “Winter Effects on the Hydraulic Conductivity of Compacted Clay,” J. of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 121, No.1, pp. 69-79.
(850) 487.6381
tawfiq@eng.fsu.edu
Dr. Tawfiq teaches courses in the area of Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering.
Dr. Tawfiq has considerable experience in experimental mechanics, finite element modeling, random vibration, nondestructive testing and dynamic characterization of materials. He is the principal investigator on various projects dealing with drilled shaft inspection techniques, behavior of drilled shafts under various loading conditions, pavement evaluation, and ultra thin white topping overlays.
Research Interests
Geotechnical Engineering
Foundations
Geotextiles
Dynamic Testing
Selected Publications
Tawfiq, K. Armaghani, J, and Ruiz, R. “Fatigue Cracking of Polypropylene Fiber Reinforced Concrete," Materials Journal, American Concrete Institute, ACI, 1999.
Tawfiq, K., Armaghani, J, and Sobanjo, J. “Seismic Pavement Analyzer vs. Falling Weight Deflectometer for Pavement Evaluation; Comparative Study,” American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM, Special Technical Publications on Nondestructive Testing of Pavements STP-1375, pp. 327-345.
Tawfiq, K.; Armaghani, J.; and Sobanjo, J. “Curvilinear Behavior of Base Layer Moduli from Deflection and Seismic Methods.” Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 1716, Nov. 2000, pp. 55-63.