Dr. Kaleigh Yost

L. Robert and Mary L. Kimball Early Career Assistant Professor

Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering
College:  Engineering
Address: 212 Sackett
Phone: 8148634384
E-mail:kmy5305@psu.edu
Website: https://www.kaleighyost.com/

Geotechnical Aspects of Future Flood Hazard in Pennsylvania

The Susquehanna River Basin comprises about half of the state of PA. Despite having one of the most extensive levee networks in the country, it is a highly flood-prone region, with over $150 million in flood damages annually. Old, non-accredited levees pose a risk to many communities in PA. This project seeks to understand the factors influencing levee stability and how they impact regional flood hazard through the lens of future climate scenarios.

Computational Studies of Cone Penetration Testing

Students who work on this project will gain experience using an advanced numerical modeling technique called the Material Point Method (MPM). MPM is capable of simulating large deformation problems and is being used in this project to simulate cone penetration testing (CPT), a type of in-situ geotechnical test used to determine soil properties. The results from this study will be used to better inform evaluations of earthquake hazard. The numerical platform, Anura3D (https://github.com/Anura3D/Anura3D_OpenSource/wiki), is user-friendly, and the student will be involved in developing an example problem for the tutorial manual of the software.