Research Projects

Professor Tim Newson joined Western in 2005 after seven years as a Professor at the University of Dundee in Scotland. He has worked in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia on engineering projects for the offshore, mining, environmental and civil engineering industries. His research focuses on geotechnical engineering, with particular emphasis on experimental and physical modelling of soil–structure interaction and the behaviour of foundations and geotechnical systems under complex loading conditions. A major component of his work involves geotechnical centrifuge modelling, including the development and application of advanced physical modelling techniques to investigate problems that are difficult to study at full scale.

His research encompasses foundation engineering, including the performance of shallow and deep foundations subjected to static, cyclic, and environmental loading. He has investigated transmission tower foundations, offshore wind-energy infrastructure, frost heave and foundations in cold regions, slope stability, tunnelling, and soil response to rainfall and climate-related processes. His work also includes sustainable ground improvement and the engineering behaviour of expansive soils. Professor Newson’s research extends to emerging energy and infrastructure challenges, including offshore renewable energy, cable–soil interaction, and foundations for challenging environments. He has also contributed to research involving lunar regolith simulants and physical modelling relevant to future lunar infrastructure and resource utilization.

Across these areas, his research integrates centrifuge testing, laboratory experiments, field investigation, numerical modelling, and analytical methods to develop improved understanding and practical design approaches for resilient, reliable, and sustainable geotechnical infrastructure.

Featured Recent Projects

Optimizing serviceability limit states for electricity transmission line foundations

High-voltage transmission lines form the backbone of modern electricity grids, transporting power over long distances from generating stations to areas of demand. Transmission towers and foundations must withstand repeated multiaxial load reversals caused by wind and other environmental conditions while meeting stringent reliability and serviceability requirements. This project, conducted with CEATI, focuses on developing reliability-based serviceability limit state design methods for transmission tower foundations. Current approaches are limited by inadequate analytical models, foundation loading databases, and calibration for multiaxial cyclic loading. Innovative methods are being used to develop and calibrate cyclic foundation models using a new database of scaled shallow-foundation centrifuge experiments, supported by in-situ cone penetration testing of sandy soil profiles. Soil variability, including coefficients of variation and scales of fluctuation, and climate-change effects are being incorporated. The project is training highly qualified personnel in experimental, analytical, computational, and reliability-based geotechnical engineering, while improving predictions of foundation settlements, displacements, rotations, and overall transmission system performance.

Optimization of foundations for critical energy systems

Canada’s high per-capita electricity consumption and abundant renewable energy resources position the country for significant growth in clean energy. However, foundation engineering remains a major barrier to cost-effective deployment, particularly as energy systems become larger, technologies mature, and projects encounter challenging soil conditions. Renewable energy foundations must transfer complex, cyclic vertical, horizontal, and moment loads to the ground, while current design practices are often adapted from oil and gas or conventional construction. This research investigates soil–structure interaction for critical energy-system foundations and is developing improved methods for predicting their serviceability and ultimate behaviour. Design methods are validated using field testing, laboratory investigations, scaled centrifuge modelling, and finite-element analysis. Stochastic loading histories, phenomenological models, and macroelement approaches are being used to characterize foundation response. Data from Western’s large drum centrifuge is supporting databases of force–deformation behaviour and calibrated design parameters. The research will improve foundation design, reduce costs and risks, and support Canada’s renewable energy sector, economic growth, and energy security.

Transmission tower conductor breaks with energy absorbers

Electrical transmission lines are vital to the electric power grid worldwide but are subject to damage due to conductor break caused by ice loading, wind, vandalism, aircraft impact, and other severe dynamic events. When a conductor breaks, high dynamic loads are transmitted to the insulator string, the tower arm, and the entire tower. These can be well in excess of the normal vertical and horizontal loads on these components. These excessive dynamic loads can lead to tower, tower component and foundation failure. In certain circumstances, the shock loads can travel down the conductor and damage nearby towers. In the worst case, a zipper failure can occur, and miles of towers can be damaged and collapse. This work involves the performance of scaled physical model centrifuge testing of transmission line towers with and without energy absorbing devices. This is to gain insight into the dynamic response of transmission tower lines to conductor break and other severe dynamic events. The resulting measured data is being compared to finite element analysis using the ADINA code. This project will demonstrate the efficiency and efficacy of simulating complex tower and conductor dynamics in a large centrifuge and provide data to evaluate the effectiveness of energy absorbing devices and validate the use of finite element codes to accurately reproduce such dynamic events.

Novel devices for in situ strength measurement

Offshore pipelines are typically laid on the seabed and lowered into the seabed (trenched) over large sections to provide protection from shipping and fishing activities, or to stabilise the pipeline from hydrodynamic loads. Accurate estimates of the resistance to upward pipeline movement of the overlying clayey trench-backfill are important for design and analytical purposes. The undrained shear strength (cu) of the upper layers of the seabed (particularly the initial 2 to 3 m below the mudline) is therefore a vital part of pipeline site investigations and is commonly found using the cone penetrometer (CPT). The limitations of standard CPTs may be overcome with the use of novel shaped penetrometers (T-bars and balls). The measured resistance can be easily used to calculate undrained shear strength using an unique bearing capacity or ‘bar’ factors. This work involves the application of standard in situ cone penetrometers and other novel penetrometer tests from ROVs for the determination of undrained shear strength parameters for pipeline buried in soft clays and comparisons with in situ plate bearing tests and centrifuge model tests.

Thermal conductivity of offshore soils

This work involved thermal conductivity tests conducted on highly disturbed (fluidised) deepwater offshore North Sea clay sediments. The variation of thermal conductivity with moisture content was determined using a specially designed one-dimensional consolidation apparatus. Comparisons were made with results from undisturbed in situ soil cores. The results show very similar values of thermal conductivity for both the undisturbed and fluidised samples for given moisture contents. These values are comparable with results found for similar materials in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, but are lower than values typically assumed in current design approaches.

Novel anchor systems for offshore use

Since many remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are neutrally or positively bouyant, any activities that require any significant reaction load, e.g. in situ soil testing, are not possible without additional anchoring or clump weights. Whilst the majority of ROVs used by the offshore oil and gas industries have the necessary hydraulic and pneumatic control systems to employ anchors, previous attempts to develop seabed fixity have had variable success. These include standard anchor systems, such as helical screw, suction, duckbill and plate anchors. Any viable alternative must provide a cheap and reusable system that will provide sufficient pullout capacity and be able to operate in the demanding deep offshore environment. This project had the aim of determining whether a flexible, inflatable anchor system may provide sufficient uplift capacity to fix ROVs during offshore activities. A series of physical model tests were used to assess the performance of the proposed anchor system in terms of pullout capacity and mobilisation distance. A range of anchor designs and operating conditions were investigated to provide data for this assessment. Further assessments of the system were made using finite element analysis for both drained and undrained loading states.

Other Projects

Geotechnical and structural paradigms for the design, implementation and operation of small modular reactors
Nature-based solutions for permafrost stabilization and permafrost carbon fixation
Design implications for lattice towers and pole structures regarding foundation serviceability limits
Enhancing the resilience and sustainability of critical geotechnical infrastructure
Numerical modelling of flexible wheel-soil interaction for planetary rovers
Reuse of shallow foundations for wind turbine farms
Complex loading of buried structures and foundations
Arching around buried culverts
Wave induced liquefaction of marine soils
Bearing capacity of crusted clayey soils and mine wastes
Upheaval buckling of buried offshore pipelines