Award of MOE Tier 1 Call 2/ 2023 - Associate Professor Wu Wei

Congratulations to Associate Professor Wu Wei on the award of MOE Tier 1 Call 2/ 2023 for his project Assessment and Mitigation of Geologic Risks in Geo-Energy Systems.

Project Write-up

Underground space offers vast potentials for addressing the challenges of space creation and energy supply in Singapore. However, Urban areas are vulnerable to the risk of engineering-induced geohazards, and efficiently managing the risk is critical to guarantee operation safety and reduce project cost. Multiple lines of evidence have recently indicated that linkages among the frictional, hydraulic, and seismic characteristics of rock fractures may offer a clue to control the risk. The linkages are also associated with in-situ stress state and hydraulic condition.

Thus, the overarching goal of this proposal is to develop an integrated solution for mitigating various engineering-induced geohazards from a multiphysics perspective: controlling rock fracturing and healing through managing the linkages among frictional, hydraulic, and seismic characteristics of rock fractures. We will first explore the linkages among fracture characteristics, and for the first time use the linkages to manage the geohazard risk in geo-energy systems. The key question is how we can manage one inaccessible fracture characteristic by indirectly governing the other controllable characteristics. This research includes three specific aims. Our efforts will directly contribute to the conceptual design, feasibility study, construction, and operation of current and potential geo-energy projects in Singapore.