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Professional background and academic training

• From Sept. 2018:  Researcher in geomechanics. UMR RECOVER, INRAE
• 2015-2018: PhD, Aix Marseille Université, IRSTEA. PhD supervisors: S. Bonelli et F. Nicot. Titile: "Micro-inertial analysis of mechanical instability in granular materials with application to internal erosion"
• 2015:  Mastère spécialisé "Politiques et Actions Publiques pour le Développement Durable", Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - AgroParisTech (France)
• 2014: Engineering degree in "Civil engineering" and Master of science in "Mechanics of Materials and Structures", Ecole des Ponts ParisTech (France)
• 2014: Graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (France)

Research activities

My research work in mechanics aims at proposing theoretical and numerical models for the constitutive behavior of granular materials. I am particularly interested in the understanding of hydro-mechanical instabilities in granular materials and their modeling through multi-scale approaches.  

Ongoing research projects : 

• Project contributor BIGALPS (2023-2026): EIC Transition project funded by the European Union on the application of bio-cementation as a remediation technique to erosion.
• Project coordinator MiMoDiM (2022-2026): JCJC project funded by the Franch National Research Agency (ANR) on the development of a new class of multi-scale constitutive models to account for the behavior of widely graded granular materials subjected to internal erosion. Postdoc (18 months): Peter ADESINA. master internship (6 months) : Wenqing QU. PhD (3 years) : Aoxin LI.
• Project coordinator ClapMeca (2022-2024): Project funded by the French Carnot Institute for Water and Environment on the experimental investigation of the impact of fine grain injection on the mechanical stability of granular materials. Postdoc (18 months): Abhijit Hegde
• Project partner StabDigue (2020-2024): Project funded by the French Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine and coordinated by Olivier Millet (LaSIE) on the modeling of the behavior of maritime dikes under cyclic loadings.

PhD supervision (ongoing): 

• Fan CHEN (2022-2025): "Investigation of fine-grain injection method as the remediation of the mechanical stability for granular materials subjected to suffusion". PhD director: P. Philippe (INRAE). Supervision team: F. Nicot (USMB), A. Wautier (INRAE)
• Nesrin AKEL (2021-2024): "Experimental and numerical investigations of puncture failure of geomembranes lining systems". PhD director: N. Touze (INRAE). Supervision team: F. Nicot (USMB), G. Stoltz (INRAE), A. Wautier (INRAE)
• Zeyong LIU (2021-2024) : "On the contribution of the multiscale approach to landslide modeling". Direction : F. Nicot (USMB). Encadrement : A. Wautier (INRAE), O. Millet (LASIE)

PhD supervision (over): 

• Nabil YOUNES (2020-2023) : "Multiscale modeling of maritime dikes under cyclic hydraulic loading". Direction : O. Millet (LaSIE). Encadrement : R. Wan (UofC), F. Nicot (USMB), A. Wautier (INRAE)
• Joao GONCALVES (2020-2023) : "3D meso-structural organization in granular materials". Direction : A. Daouadji (INSA Lyon). Encadrement : F. Nicot (USMB), A. Wautier (INRAE)
• Na DENG (2018-2022) : "Micromechanics of Critical State and its emergence in multiscale modeling of soil failure".  PhD director:  F. Nicot (INRAE). Supervision team: A. Wautier (INRAE), Y. Thiery (BRGM), Z-Y. Yin (PolyU)
• Adriane CLERC (2018-2022) : "Mesoscopic scale analysis of inertial transition in granular materials". PhD director:  S. Bonelli (INRAE). Supervision team: F. Nicot (INRAE), A. Wautier (INRAE)
• Marie MIOT (2017-2020) : "Modélisation multi-échelle du comportement mécanique des sols non-saturés". PhD director: P. Philippe (INRAE). Supervision team: G. Veylon (INRAE), F. Nicot (INRAE), A. Wautier (INRAE)

Long stay visiting scientists:

• Tao WANG (2019-2021): PhD candidate from Hohai University (China) working on the mechanical stability of widely graded granular materials.
• Qirui MA (2019-2020): PhD candidate from Wuhan University (China) working on the numerical modeling of suffusion.

Postdoc supervision (ongoing): 

• Marie MIOT (2021-2023): co-supervision within the framework of the project SNOWTEC coordinated by GoodYear et funded by the FNR (Luxembourg)
• Abhijit HEGDE (2023-2024) : co-supervision within the framework of the project Clapmeca (funded by Carnot Institute). Experimental injection of fine grains and subsequentimpacts on granular materials stability.
• Peter ADESINA (2023-2024) : supervision within the framework of the project MiMoDiM (financement ANR). Multiscale geomechanics : How to embed complex system properties across the scales?

Educational activities

• Continuing education: modules on the design of embankment dams and gravity dams, for hydraulic works inspectors, project owners and design offices
• Initial training: Temporary teacher at ENSE3 (Grenoble) in mechanics of deformable and undeformable solids
• Doctoral training: Coordinator of the collective course "Mechanics and risks in civil engineering" at the doctoral school ED353 from Aix Marseille University

Scientific societies and scientific edition

• Associate editor for European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering (from 2020)
• Membre du Comité Français des Barrages et des Réservoirs (CFBR) (depuis 2021)
• Membre du Comité français de mécanique des sols (CFMS) et correspondant français au comité technique "Méthodes numériques en géomécanique" (TC103) de l'ISSMGE

Awards 

• Qualification as a "National Expert" in the field of "Geotechnics and Natural Hazards" for the French Ministry MTES
• Ioannis Vardoulakis PhD Prize (2019)
• Research internship prize from the French Ecole Polytechnique (2013)

Publications

Mos of my publications are available either on HAL, on researchGate or directly from here with the responses to the reviewers. Otherwise, do not hesitate to get in touch with me!

Journal papers

1. Peter Adesina, Antoine Wautier, and Nadia Benahmed. A micromechanics-based classification of the regimes delineating the behaviour of gap-graded soils. Computers and Geotechnics, 168:106165, 2024.
2. Joao Chueire, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Ali Daouadji. On the extension of the grain loop concept from 2d
   to 3d granular assemblies. Granular Matter, 25(3):57, 2023.
3. Sina Massoumi, Noël Challamel, Jean Lerbet, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Félix Darve. Shear vibration modes of granular structures: Continuous and discrete approaches. ZAMM-Journal of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics/Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik, page e202200391, 2023.
4. Anthony Mouyeaux, Claudio Carvajal, François Nicot, Antoine Wautier, and Laurent Peyras. Stability analysis of earth dam slopes based on the second-order work criterion in finite element modeling. Geotechnics, 3(4):1117–1134, 2023.
5. François Nicot, Xiaoxiao Wang, Antoine Wautier, Richard Wan, and Felix Darve. Shear banding as a dissipative structure from a thermodynamic viewpoint. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, page 105394, 2023.
6. Tao Wang, Antoine Wautier, Jungao Zhu, and François Nicot. Stabilizing role of coarse grains in overfilled binary mixtures: a dem investigation. Computers and Geotechnics, 162:105625, 2023.
7. Nabil Younes, Antoine Wautier, Richard Wan, Olivier Millet, François Nicot, and Raphael Bouchard. Dem-lbm coupling for partially saturated granular assemblies. Computers and Geotechnics, 162:105677, 2023.
8. Zeyd Benseghier, Olivier Millet, Pierre Philippe, Antoine Wautier, Nabil Younes, and Erwan Liberge. Relevance of capillary interfaces simulation with the shan-chen multiphase LB model. Granular Matter, 24(3):1–18, 2022.
9. Noel Challamel, François Nicot, Antoine Wautier, Félix Darve, and Jean Lerbet. Hyperelastic or hypoelastic granular circular chains instability in a geometrically exact framework. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 148(9):04022053, 2022.
10. Na Deng, Antoine Wautier, Antoinette Tordesillas, Yannick Thiery, Zhen-Yu Yin, Pierre-Yves Hicher, and François Nicot. Lifespan dynamics of cluster conformations in stationary regimes in granular materials. Physical Review E, 105(1):014902, 2022.
11. Jiaying Liu, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, Félix Darve, and Wei Zhou. How meso shear chains bridge multiscale shear behaviors in granular materials: A preliminary study. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 252:111835, 2022.
12. Jiaying Liu, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, Félix Darve, and Wei Zhou. Incremental shear strain chain: a mesoscale concept for slip lines in 2d granular materials. Granular Matter, 24(4):1–22, 2022.
13. Sina Massoumi, Noël Challamel, Jean Lerbet, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Félix Darve. Static bending of granular beam: exact discrete and nonlocal solutions. Meccanica, pages 1–24, 2022.
14. Tao Wang, Sihong Liu, Antoine Wautier, and François Nicot. Constitutive model for soil-rock mixtures in the light of an updated skeleton void ratio concept. Acta Geotechnica, pages 1–13, 2022.
15. Tao Wang, Sihong Liu, Antoine Wautier, and François Nicot. Unified description of gravelly sand mixtures in light of an updated skeleton void ratio concept. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 59(1), 2022.
16. Nabil Younes, Zeyd Benseghier, Millet Olivier, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Wan Richard. Phase-field lattice boltzmann model for liquid bridges and coalescence in wet granular media. Powder Technology, 411:117942, 2022.
17. Adriane Clerc, Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Meso-scale signatures of inertial transitions in granular materials. Granular Matter, 23(2):1–14, 2021.
18. Félix Darve, Francois Nicot, Antoine Wautier, and Jiaying Liu. Slip lines versus shear bands: two competing localization modes. Mechanics Research Communications, 114:103603, 2021.
19. Na Deng, Antoine Wautier, Yannick Thiery, Zhen-Yu Yin, Pierre-Yves Hicher, and François Nicot. On the attraction power of critical state in granular materials. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 149:104300, 2021.
20. Qirui Ma, Antoine Wautier, and François Nicot. Mesoscale investigation of fine grain contribution to contact stress in
    granular materials. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 148(3):04022005, 2021.
21. Qirui Ma, Antoine Wautier, and Wei Zhou. Microscopic mechanism of particle detachment in granular materials subjected to suffusion in anisotropic stress states. Acta Geotechnica, 16(8):2575–2591, 2021.
22. Marie Miot, Guillaume Veylon, Antoine Wautier, Pierre Philippe, François Nicot, and Frédéric Jamin. Numerical analysis of capillary bridges and coalescence in a triplet of spheres. Granular Matter, 23(3):1–18, 2021.
23. Antoine Wautier, Guillaume Veylon, Marie Miot, Mehdi Pouragha, François Nicot, Richard Wan, and Félix Darve. Multiscale modelling of granular materials in boundary value problems accounting for mesoscale mechanisms.  Computers and Geotechnics, 134:104143, 2021.
24. Tao Wang, Antoine Wautier, Sihong Liu, and François Nicot. How fines content affects granular plasticity of under-filled binary mixtures. Acta Geotechnica, pages 1–15, 2021.
25. Hao Xiong, Zhen-Yu Yin, François Nicot, Antoine Wautier, Miot Marie, Félix Darve, Guillaume Veylon, and Pierre Philippe. A novel multi-scale large deformation approach for modelling of granular collapse. Acta Geotechnica, 16:2371–2388, 2021.
26. Liu Jiaying, Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, François Nicot, and Darve Félix. Macroscopic softening in granular materials from a mesoscale perspective. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 193:222–238, 2020.
27. Mehdi Pouragha, Jérôme Duriez, Antoine Wautier, Richard Wan, François Nicot, and Félix Darve. Preferential growth
    of force network in granular media. Granular Matter, 21(3):67, 2019.
28. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. DEM investigations of internal erosion: Grain transport in the light of micromechanics. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 43(1):339–352,
    2019.
29. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Rattlers’ contribution to granular plasticity and mechanical stability. International Journal of Plasticity, 112:172–193, 2019.
30. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Flow impact on granular force chains and induced instability. Physical Review E, 98(4):042909, 2018.
31. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Micro-inertia origin of instabilities in granular materials. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 42(9):1037–1056, 2018.
32. François Nicot, Hao Xiong, Antoine Wautier, Jean Lerbet, and Félix Darve. Force chain collapse as grain column buckling in granular materials. Granular Matter, 19(2):18, 2017.
33. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Scale separation between grain detachment and grain transport in granular media subjected to an internal flow. Granular Matter, 19(2):22, 2017.
34. Antoine Wautier, Christian Geindreau, and Frédéric Flin. Numerical homogenization of the viscoplastic behavior of
    snow based on x-ray tomography images. The Cryosphere, 11(3):1465, 2017.
35. Antoine Wautier, Christian Geindreau, and Frédéric Flin. Linking snow microstructure to its macroscopic elastic
    stiffness tensor: A numerical homogenization method and its application to 3-d images from x-ray tomography. Geophysical Research Letters, 42(19):8031–8041, 2015.
36. Antoine Wautier and Bojan B Guzina. On the second-order homogenization of wave motion in periodic media and the
    sound of a chessboard. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 78:382–414, 2015.

General audience papers

1. Antoine Wautier. Soil erosion: a story of fluid and grains. Encyclopédie de l’Environnement, 2021.

Conference proceedings

1. Nadia Benahmed, Junfei Zuo, and Antoine Wautier. Instability of granular soil under conventional triaxial and constant stress paths. In Multiscale Processes of Instability, Deformation and Fracturing in Geomaterials: Proceedings of 12th International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomechanics, pages 74–83. Springer, 2022.
2. Antoine Wautier, Anthony Mouyeaux, François Nicot, Richard Wan, and Félix Darve. Mechanical stability analysis of engineering structures with use of the bifurcation domain concept. In Multiscale Processes of Instability, Deformation and Fracturing in Geomaterials: Proceedings of 12th International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomechanics, pages 3–12. Springer, 2022.
3. Nabil Younes, Zeyd Benseghier, Olivier Millet, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Richard Wan. Lbm approach for capillary bridges and associated forces in an air-water system. In 25ème Congrès Français de Mécanique, Recueil des Articles Soumis - S18, pages 210–219, 2022
4. Adriane Clerc, Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Mesoscale inertial transition in granular materials. In EPJ Web of Conferences, volume 249, page 10004. EDP Sciences, 2021.
5. Na Deng, Antoine Wautier, Yannick Thiery, Zhen-Yu Yin, Pierre-Yves Hicher, and François Nicot. Dynamic view of critical state regime in granular materials: a mesoscale perspective. In EPJ Web of Conferences, volume 249, page 11011. EDP Sciences, 2021.
6. Marie Miot, Guillaume Veylon, Sacha Emam, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Pierre Philippe. A multiscale approach for cohesive and unsaturated soils as a constitutive model designed for FLAC3D. In Applied Numerical Modeling in Geomechanics. Billaux, Hazzard, Nelson & Schöpfer, 2020.
7. Marie Miot, Guillaume Veylon, Antoine Wautier, François Nicot, and Pierre Philippe. Calculation of capillary forces in a mesoscale assembly of grains. In 24ème Congrès Français de Mécanique, page 8. sciencesconf.org, 2019.
8. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Limites des critères de susceptibilité à la suffusion vis-a-vis de la stabilité mécanique des ouvrages en remblai. In Colloque CFBR : « Justification des barrages : État de l’art et Perspectives», page 8. CFBR, 2019.
9. Antoine Wautier, Jiaying Liu, François Nicot, and Fèlix Darve. Bifurcation micromechanics in granular materials. In Dynamic Damage and Fragmentation, pages 315–338. Wiley Online Library, 2018.
10. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. A micromechanical approach of suffusion based on a length scale analysis of the grain detachment and grain transport processes. In EPJ Web of Conferences, volume 140, page 09022. EDP Sciences, 2017.
11. Antoine Wautier, Stéphane Bonelli, and François Nicot. Micromechanical modelling of suffusion: Towards the stability analysis of hydraulic structures. In International Workshop on Bifurcation and Degradation in Geomaterials, pages 169–175. Springer, 2017.
12. Antoine Wautier, Christian Geindreau, and Frédéric Flin. From x-ray tomography images to a numerical homogenized formulation of snow viscoplasticity. In Poromechanics VI, pages 1091–1098, 2017.