Professor Madabhushi is an international authority in geotechnical earthquake engineering, renowned for his pioneering contributions to physical modelling using centrifuge testing, soil–structure interaction, liquefaction, and seismic risk mitigation. His research has shaped global design practices, influenced international codes, and transformed the way engineers understand and manage geotechnical hazards.

The Schofield Lecture 2026

Gopal Madabhushi's Schofield Lecture – ‘Insights into the physical modelling of problems in geotechnical earthquake engineering’ focused on several aspects of geotechnical earthquake engineering that were dear to the late Professor Andrew Schofield.

The first of these is the choice of earthquake input motions that may be used to shake a centrifuge model in-flight. The evolution of mechanical earthquake actuators from leaf-spring to bumpy road and then the Stored Angular Momentum (SAM) actuator were presented.

The current capabilities of servo-hydraulic earthquake actuators and the requirement for specialist model containers such as Equivalent Shear Beam containers and laminar boxes to simulate liquefaction-induced lateral spread problems were highlighted. Use of sinusoidal motion versus more complex motions such as previous historic earthquakes like Kobe or Northridge and their relative merits were discussed.

Next, the soil liquefaction and modelling of these phenomena in dynamic centrifuge tests was presented. The soil behaviour quite close to liquefaction was explained using the critical state framework, where the soil stress path goes close to the fracture line. This results in the phenomena of sand boils, mud volcanoes etc as the permeability and compressibility of the liquefied soil changes by several orders of magnitude.

The observation of these, using centrifuge test data, and the consequences for foundations located on liquefiable soil surfaces were detailed. The lecture brought to the fore the insights provided by Professor Schofield and how this shaped the evolution of research on soil liquefaction.

The International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics 

The International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics constitutes the biggest gathering of the physical modelling community, offering a forum for academics, engineers, researchers, technicians and students, where the latest developments in modelling techniques, technologies, similitude laws, and all other aspects of physical modelling in geotechnics can be discussed. 

The John Henry Garrood King Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers

Professor Madabhushi has also been awarded the John Henry Garrood King Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers for his research article: Investigation into soil ratcheting behind integral bridges using centrifuge modelling.

Biography

Professor Madabhushi is an international authority in geotechnical earthquake engineering, renowned for his pioneering contributions to physical modelling using centrifuge testing, soil–structure interaction, liquefaction, and seismic risk mitigation. His research has shaped global design practices, influenced international codes, and transformed the way engineers understand and manage geotechnical hazards.

Professor Madabhushi is head of the Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group. He has wide-ranging interests in this field, from post-earthquake field investigations to experimental and numerical investigations of liquefaction-induced failure mechanisms of civil engineering structures. He served as the chairman of EEFIT (Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team) that operates under the auspices of the Institution of Structural Engineers, London and continues as a member of the Missions Expert Group (MEG).

He is a member of the Research and Education sub-committee of SECED. He is also a member of the Technical Committee TC2 of ISSMGE and heads the sub-committee on Teaching Resources. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and serves as the Editorial Board member of Geo-mechanics Engineering (GAE) Journal.

Professor Madabhushi’s research has been funded by EPSRC, EU, NSF USA, Newton Trust, Santa Clara University, USA, Mott MacDonald, UK, Shimizu Corporation, Japan. Many boundary value problems have been studied, ranging from liquefaction-induced lateral flow past piles supported by Shimizu Corporation, plastic buckling of piles, liquefaction-induced settlement of rock fill dams etc. In a recent project, the dynamic soil-structure interaction of foundations of heavy structures such as Nuclear Reactor Buildings that are founded on stratified soil. Professor Madabhushi has a strong interest in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of liquefaction problems. The FEA have been used to investigate many boundary value problems, including sheet pile walls, dynamic SSI problems with heavy foundations, etc.