Research

My research focuses on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Infrastructure, with the goal of developing safer, more sustainable infrastructure that is resilient to earthquakes, natural hazards, and climate change.

My work integrates advanced laboratory testing, field investigations, numerical modelling, and sustainable engineering solutions.

Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering and Related Problems

Soil liquefaction and earthquake-induced ground deformation
Behaviour of sands, gravelly soils, and volcanic soils under cyclic loading
Seismic performance of foundations, slopes and earth structures

Liquefaction of problematic soils: (a) micaceous silt in Trishuli, Nepal, observed following the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake (Chiaro et al., 2015); (b) flow failure in weathered volcanic pumice observed in Aso, Japan, following the 2016 Mw 7.0 Kumamoto Earthquake (Chiaro et al., 2017); and (c) gravel liquefaction at CentrePort, Wellington, New Zealand, induced by the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura Earthquake (Cubrinovski et al., 2017, 2018).

Laboratory investigation of gravelly soil liquefaction (Pokhrel et al., 2024; Wang et al., 2025; Chiaro et al., 2026).

Geo-disaster Risk Assessment and Mitigation

Post-earthquake reconnaissance and interpretation of field observations
Assessment and mitigation of geohazards including liquefaction, sinkholes, landslides, and earthquake-induced ground failures
Development of practical engineering tools (e.g., seismic DPT) to improve liquefaction triggering prediction and infrastructure resilience

Sinkhole damage reconnaissance in Armala, Pokhara Valley, Nepal (Pokhrel et al., 2015)

Field investigation of gravelly soil liquefaction in Blenheim, New Zealand using the dynamic penetration test (DPT) (Chiaro et al., 2022)

Innovative Ground Improvement

Development of innovative ground improvement techniques to reduce earthquake damage (e.g., geotechnical seismic isolation (GSI) systems for buildings and infrastructure) and mitigate ground vibrations (e.g., vertical barriers)

Proposed applications of gravel–rubber mixtures in geotechnical engineering (Tasalotti et al., 2021; Chiaro et al., 2026)

Geoenvironmental Engineering and Sustainability

Beneficial reuse of waste materials, particularly end-of-life tyre rubber and recycled glass, in geotechnical applications
Environmental assessment of recycled construction materials, including long-term leaching behaviour
Development of sustainable, low-carbon geotechnical solutions that promote circular economy principles

Characterisation of compacted gravel–glass–rubber mixtures for use as fill material for geotechnical applications (Chiaro et al., 2026)

Long-term environmental leaching of gravel–rubber mixtures evaluated using batch leaching and column tests (Banasiak et al., 2021; Sedai et al., 2025)

Experimental Geotechnics

Laboratory investigation of soil behaviour from very small to large strains
Development of advanced testing methods for liquefaction assessment and soil characterisation
Investigation of the mechanical behaviour of sandy soils, sand–gravel mixtures, volcanic soils and recycled geomaterials

Large-strain shear characteristics of Toyoura sand evaluated by torsional simple shear tests with initial static shear (Chiaro et al., 2012, 2013; Umar et al., 2021)

Small-strain stiffness and dynamic properties of gravel–rubber mixtures (Chiaro et al., 2022; Fiamingo et al., 2025)

Physical, chemical and geotechnical characteristics of NZ slightly-weathered tephras (Sood et al., 2024a; 2024b; 2025)

Energy dissipation of gravel–rubber mixtures evaluated using a small-scale physical model subjected to impact hammer testing (Forcellini et al., 2024; Murali, 2025; Chiaro et al., 2026)

Computational Geotechnics

Development and application of constitutive models (e.g., T-sand model)
Finite Element Method (FEM) and Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations
Numerical modelling of soil–structure interaction and seismic response

Simulation of the behaviour of Toyoura sand in undrained cyclic torsional simple shear tests using the T-Sand model (Chiaro et al., 2013, 2017, 2021)

DEM simulation and micromechanical analysis of the direct shear response of gravel–rubber mixtures (Chew et al., 2022; Chiaro et al., 2022)

FE simulation of the performance of a GSI foundation system under earthquake loading (Forcellini et al., 2024)

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