Dr. Carlos Carranza-Torres

Associate Professor,

Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus.

260 Swenson Civil Engineering,

1405 University Drive,

Duluth, MN 55812,

Minnesota, USA.

Phone: (218) 726-6460

E-mail: carranza@d.umn.edu

URL: http://www.d.umn.edu/civileng/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Areas of Interest

Engineering Geology. Rock Mechanics. Design of Underground and Surface Excavations. Analytical and Numerical Modeling in Geotechnical Engineering.

 

Current Position

–Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering. University of Minnesota, Duluth Campus (UMD).

 

Courses Taught

–CE 3425: Engineering Geology.

–CE 3426: Soil Mechanics.

–Scheduled to teach the following courses of the Civil Engineering program at UMD (starting in Spring of 2012): CE 4426/5426 Rock Mechanics; CE 4422/5422 Numerical Modeling in Geotechnical Engineering; CE4436/5436 Design of Underground and Surface Excavations in Rock.

–ME 5335: Introduction to Finite Element Method Analysis.

–ENGR 2015: Statics.

–CE/GeoE 4311: Rock Mechanics (at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus; co-taught the course with Prof. J. Labuz, in Springs of 2006, 2007 and 2008).

 

Previous Appointments

–Lecturer of Rock Mechanics (2005-2008). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus.

–Independent Geotechnical Enginering Consultant (2005-2008).

–Project Engineer (1998-2005). Itasca Consulting Group. Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

Education

–PhD. in Geomechanical Engineering (1998). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus, USA.

–MSc. in Engineering Geology (1994). Engineering Geology Department, ITC Delft, The Netherlands.

–BSc. in Civil Engineering (1992). Facultad the Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Argentina.

 

Consulting Experience

 

Relevant Civil Engineering Projects (during the last five years):

–Admiral Subway Station Project. Hong Kong, China (verification of support for mined cavern, working for Ove Arup and Partners, Hong Kong).

–Airport Link Project. Brisbane, Australia (verification of design of support for highway tunnels, working for Ove Arup and Partners, Australia).

–7th Line Subway Extension Project. New York, USA (design and verification of support for tunnels and caverns, working for by Ove Arup and Partners, New York).

–2nd Avenue Subway Project. New York, USA (design verification of support for tunnels and caverns, working for Arup-DMJM Harris Joint Venture Partnership, New York).

 

Relevant Mining Engineering Projects (during the last five years):

–Chuquicamata Underground Transition Project, Calama, Chile (geotechnical support in the design of underground tunnels and shafts for planned caving operations; working for SRK Consulting, Santiago, Chile).

–Rajo Sur Project. El Teniente Mine, Chile (geotechnical support for design of open pit mine, working for SRK Consulting, Santiago, Chile).

–Undisclosed Underground Mine Project (geomechanics support for Golder Associates, Toronto, Canada).

–Undisclosed Underground Mine Project (geomechanics support for SRK Consulting, Johannesburg, South Africa).

–Undisclosed Open Pit Mine Project (geomechanics support for SRK Consulting, Cardiff, UK).

 

Latest Publications

–Carranza-Torres C., Rysdahl B. and Kasim M. (2011) “Elastic analysis of circular lined tunnel considering relaxation of ground stresses prior to installation of the support”. Tunnelling and Underground Space. (Under review).

–Hormazabal E., C. Soto, A. Russo and C. Carranza-Torres (2011) “Estimation of support requirement for large diameter ventilation shaft at Chuquicamata Underground Mine in Chile”. Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Rock Mechanics. October 18-21, 2011. Beijing, China.

–Alejano L. and C. Carranza-Torres (2011) “An empirical approach for estimating shear strength of decomposed granites in Galicia, Spain”. Engineering Geology, 120, 91-102.

–Hormazabal E., F. Villegas, F. Rovira and C. Carranza-Torres (2010) “Geomechanical evaluation of caving macro-block options at Chuquicamata Underground Project in Chile using three-dimensional numerical modelling”. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Block and Sublevel Caving. 12 April, 2010. Perth, Australia.

–Carranza-Torres C. (2009) “Analytical and Numerical Study of the Mechanics of Rockbolt Reinforcement around Tunnels in Rock Masses”. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. 42: 175–228.

–Carranza-Torres C. and M. Diederichs (2009) “Mechanical analysis of circular liners with particular reference to composite supports. For example, liners consisting of shotcrete and steel sets”. Tunnelling and Underground Space. 24 (5): 506-532.

–Carranza-Torres C. and J. Zhao (2009) “Analytical and numerical study of the effect of water pressure on the mechanical response of cylindrical lined tunnels in elastic and elasto-plastic porous media”. International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 46. 531–547.

–Hormazabal E., F. Rovira, M. Walker and C. Carranza-Torres (2009) “Analysis and design of slopes for Rajo Sur, an open pit mine next to the subsidence crater of El Teniente mine in Chile”. Proceedings of Slope Stability 2009, November 9-11, 2009, Universidad de los Andes, Santiago, Chile.

–Hoek E., C. Carranza-Torres, M. Diederichs and B. Corkum (2008) "Integration of geotechnical and structural design in tunnelling". Proceedings University of Minnesota 56th Annual Geotechnical Engineering Conference, pages 1–53. Minneapolis, 29 February 2008 (available for downloading at Hoek’s Corner, www.rocscience.com).

 

Other Relevant Publications

–Carranza-Torres C. (2004) Elasto-plastic solution of tunnel problems using the generalized form of the Hoek-Brown failure criterion. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 41(3), 480–481.

–Carranza-Torres C. (2003) Dimensionless graphical representation of the elasto-plastic solution of a circular tunnel in a Mohr-Coulomb material. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering 36(3), 237–253.

–Hoek E., C. Carranza-Torres and B. Corkum. (2002) Hoek-Brown failure criterion – 2002 Edition. In R. Hammah,W. Bawden, J. Curran, and M. Telesnicki (Eds.), Proceedings of NARMS-TAC 2002, Mining Innovation and Technology. Toronto – 10 July 2002, pp. 267–273. University of Toronto. (Available for downloading at Hoek’s Corner, www.rocscience.com).

–Fairhurst C. and C. Carranza-Torres. (2002) Closing the circle. In J. Labuz and J. Bentler (Eds.), Proceedings of the 50 th Annual. Geotechnical Engineering Conference. St. Paul, Minnesota, February 22, 2002. University of Minnesota. (available for downloading at www.cctrockengineering.com).

–Carranza-Torres C. and Fairhurst C. (2000) "Application of the convergence-confinement method of tunnel design to rock-masses that satisfy the Hoek-Brown failure criterion". Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 15(2), 187–213.

–Carranza-Torres C. and Fairhurst C. (1999) "The elasto-plastic response of underground excavations in rock masses that satisfy the Hoek-Brown failure criterion". International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences 36(6), 777–809.

 

Services to the Profession

–Associate Editor of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology –technical journal published by Elsevier (2010-Present).

–Member of the Editorial Board of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering –technical journal published by Springer (2007-Present).

–Member of the Editorial Board of Engineering Geology –technical journal published by Elsevier (2006-Present).

–Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences –technical journal published by Elsevier (2004-Present).

–Former member of the Editorial Board of Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology –technical journal published by Elsevier (2005-2010).

–Former Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering –technical journal of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (2006-2009).

 

[Page updated in December 2011]