Ahmed Rouabhi

Research Director

Keywords

Team

GIG - Géologie de l'Ingénieur et Géomécanique

Biography

Ahmed Rouabhi is a researcher specializing in the fields of geomechanics, underground energy storage, and thermo-hydro-mechanical interactions in geological environments. His research focuses primarily on the optimization of underground infrastructure, including salt caverns, geothermal heat exchangers, and energy storage systems such as hydrogen, CO₂, or methane. His studies address key issues such as the numerical modeling of the rheological behavior of rocks (rock salt, granite), the impact of thermal and mechanical cycles on the stability of structures, and the influence of microstructural heterogeneities on the mechanical properties of geological materials. Rouabhi has contributed to improving design criteria for salt caverns by incorporating advanced constitutive models that account for phenomena such as dilatancy, viscoplasticity, and temperature effects. His research is based on an approach that combines laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and in situ validation, with the aim of reducing uncertainties associated with extrapolating experimental data to industrial scales.

Publication(s)

2026
Assessment of common hypotheses adopted in borehole sizing for Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems DOI : 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.129433
2026
Effects of Stress Extrapolation and Dilatancy on Salt Cavern Design: An Application to Underground Hydrogen Storage DOI : 10.1007/s00603-025-04897-8
2024
A complete experimental study on hard granites: Microstructural characterization, mechanical response, and failure criterion DOI : 10.1016/j.gete.2024.100592
2024
Creep of Rock Salt Under a Large Range of Deviatoric Stresses DOI : 10.1007/s00603-024-03841-6
2023
Geothermal effects on CO2 dissolution kinetics in brine: A non-dimensional model for underground storage in salt caverns DOI : 10.1016/j.jgsce.2023.205076
2023
Laboratory experiments on rock salt and phenomenological observations DOI : 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2023.105452
2023
Kinetics of CO2 dissolution for underground applications DOI : 10.1016/j.geoen.2023.212061
2022
Percussive Drilling: Experimental and Numerical Investigations DOI : 10.1007/s00603-021-02707-5
2022
On the Representativity of Rock Salt Specimens During Laboratory Tests DOI : 10.1007/s00603-021-02590-0
2021
Effect of insoluble materials on the volumetric behavior of rock salt DOI : 10.1016/j.jrmge.2020.06.007
2021
Rock salt behavior: From laboratory experiments to pertinent long-term predictions DOI : 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2020.104588
2021
Use of salt caverns in the energy transition: Application to Power-to-Gas–Oxyfuel DOI : 10.1016/j.est.2021.103333
2021
Non–isothermal two–phase hydrogen transport in rock salt during cycling in underground caverns DOI : 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.152
2021
Tunnelling-induced surface settlement: on the choice of soil constitutive model DOI : 10.1080/19648189.2019.1639078
2021
On the influence of tool shape on percussive drilling in hard rocks
2020
Mechanical behavior of frozen metapelite: Laboratory investigation and constitutive modeling DOI : 10.1016/j.coldregions.2020.103058
2020
Thermo-hydro-mechanical modeling of artificial ground freezing taking into account the salinity of the saturating fluid DOI : 10.1016/j.compgeo.2019.103382
2020
On the effect of insoluble materials on rock salt dilatancy
2019
Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Modeling of Artificial Ground Freezing: Application in Mining Engineering DOI : 10.1007/s00603-019-01786-9
2019
Thermodynamic analysis of carbon dioxide storage in salt caverns to improve the Power-to-Gas process DOI : 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.03.102
2019
A hydromechanical approach for anisotropic elasto-viscoplastic geomaterials: Application to underground excavations in sedimentary rocks DOI : 10.1016/j.undsp.2018.06.001
2019
Phenomenological behavior of rock salt: On the influence of laboratory conditions on the dilatancy onset DOI : 10.1016/j.jrmge.2018.12.011
2019
On the validity of the uniform thermodynamic state approach for underground caverns during fast and slow cycling DOI : 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2019.07.074
2019
3d numerical modeling of artificial ground freezing in mining engineering DOI : 10.1201/9780429424441-169
2019
Dilatancy and tensile criteria for salt cavern design in the context of cyclic loading for energy storage DOI : 10.1016/j.jngse.2018.10.010
2018
Modeling heat and mass transfer during ground freezing taking into account the salinity of the saturating fluid DOI : 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2017.12.065
2018
Dilatancy Criteria for Salt Cavern Design: A Comparison Between Stress- and Strain-Based Approaches DOI : 10.1007/s00603-017-1338-4
2018
Experimental and numerical investigation into rapid cooling of rock salt related to high frequency cycling of storage caverns DOI : 10.1016/j.ijrmms.2018.01.008
2018
Modelling of anisotropic damage due to hydrogen production in radioactive waste disposal DOI : 10.1680/jenge.17.00057
2018
Numerical study of Callovo-Oxfordian argillite expansion due to gas injection DOI : 10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0001050
2017
A multiphase multicomponent modeling approach of underground salt cavern storage DOI : 10.1016/j.gete.2017.08.002
2016
Modeling heat and mass transfer during ground freezing subjected to high seepage velocities DOI : 10.1016/j.compgeo.2015.11.014
2016
Thermo-hydraulic modeling of artificial ground freezing: Application to an underground mine in fractured sandstone DOI : 10.1016/j.compgeo.2016.01.024
2016
An approach to model the mechanical behavior of transversely isotropic materials DOI : 10.1002/nag.2469
2015
Modeling heat transfer between a freeze pipe and the surrounding ground during artificial ground freezing activities DOI : 10.1016/j.compgeo.2014.08.004
2014
A new approach for modeling heat transfer between a freeze pipe and the surrounding ground
2014
A new approach for modeling heat transfer between a freeze pipe and the surrounding ground DOI : 10.1201/b16955-203
2013
A fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical model for the analysis of the lining behavior of underground caverns in an AA-CAES system
2012
Effect of insoluble materials on salt behavior during creep tests
2012
Effect of insoluble materials on salt behavior during creep tests
2012
Interpretation of convergence movement in room and pillar mining by integrating creep of salt and swelling of marl under water effect
2012
Interpretation of convergence movement in room and pillar mining by integrating creep of salt and swelling of marl under water effect
2008
A semi-analytical approach for modelling heat transfer during salt-cavern leaching process DOI : 10.1002/nag.686
2007
Triaxial behaviour of transversely isotropic materials: Application to sedimentary rocks DOI : 10.1002/nag.605
2005
Continuum modelling of dynamic behaviour and fragmentation of quasi-brittle materials: Application to rock fragmentation by blasting DOI : 10.1002/nag.436

Teaching

ATHENS - MP11 - Structural Analysis

Course Director

The course consists of 20 sessions of lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on exercises. Review of the fundamental concepts of continuum mechanics and constitutive laws (linear elasticity) — the virtual work theorem. finite element methods (FEM)—principles of computer programming for FEM. Application of the method to elastoplastic, viscoelastic, and viscoplastic media. Introduction to the VIPLEF software, which is made available to students. Simple case studies selected and analyzed by the students

Underground Resources and the Energy Transition (Research Quarter)

Course Director

PhD supervision

2025 Deep geothermal drilling optimization: coupled modeling of percussion and shearing mechanisms for improved cutting performance UZQUIANO AL-RICABI Fernando
2024 Fluid-rock interaction in the context of underground hydrogen storage CHAABI Rania
2022 Electro-fragmentation of rocks: from laboratory tests to numerical modeling DAKIK Marwa
2022 Optimization of the sizing of the shallow geothermal installation BEZ Fabien
2020 Modeling of Electro-Hydro-Thermo-Mechanical Phenomena Governing the Electrodynamic Fragmentation of Rocks by High-Power Pulses SABER Hajar
2019 Thermodynamics of Underground Gas Storage: From Laboratory to Salt Caverns TAYEB Firas
2018 Percussive drilling in extreme conditions: experiments and numerical modeling ALDANNAWY Houssam Aldine
2017 Modeling and prediction of the macroscopic behavior of rock salt in the context of underground storage AZABOU Mejda
2016 Thermodynamics of Underground Fluid Storage: Application to Salt Caverns SOUBEYRAN Aurélien
2015 THMC modeling of artificial ground freezing: Application to the Cigar Lake mine TOUNSI Hafssa