K.K. "Muralee" Muraleetharan

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K.K. "Muralee" Muraleetharan

Kimmell-Bernard Chair in Engineering, David Ross Boyd and Presidential Professor

Email: muralee@ou.edu
Phone: (405) 325-4247
Office: Carson Engineering Center Room 332B

Curriculum Vitae
Google Scholar
Website

Education
Ph.D., Civil Engineering (1990)
University of California - Davis

M.S., Civil Engineering (1987)
University of California - Davis

B.S., Civil Engineering (1983)
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

About

My research focuses on developing, validating, and applying large-scale computer simulation tools for soil-structure interaction and multiphase porous media (e.g., unsaturated soils) problems with specific emphasizes on geotechnical earthquake engineering. I am also interested in the resilience of infrastructure systems (transportation, electric power, communication, etc.) following extreme events (earthquakes, ice storms, floods, etc.). Of particular interest to me are problems at the interfaces of human, engineered, and natural systems, such as, how people use and react to disruptions when a transportation system is under stress during and after a major flood or a tornado. An interdisciplinary effort led by OU's Institute for Public Policy Research & Analysis (IPPRA) social scientists is an NSF EPSCoR RII Track 1 project entitled “Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma (S3OK).” In this $20 million (for 5 years) project, social scientists, biologists, meteorologists, and engineers are working together to find sustainable solutions for “wicked problems” at the intersection of land use, water availability, and infrastructure in Oklahoma in a changing subseasonal to seasonal weather patterns. I am leading the Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) group for the S3OK Project. Some of the problems we are studying within the SI group are effects of unseasonably early ice storms (when deciduous trees are still full of leaves) on electric power and transportation infrastructure systems.

Research Focus

Infrastructure risk and resilience, unsaturated soils, geotechnical earthquake engineering, computational geomechanics, soil-structure interaction, centrifuge modeling, risk and resilience of infrastructure systems
RII Track-1: Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma," NSF, $20 million, 7/2020 to 6/2026

Current Research Projects

"RII Track-1: Socially Sustainable Solutions for Water, Carbon, and Infrastructure Resilience in Oklahoma," NSF, $20 million, 7/2020 to 6/2025 (with Dr. Wagner (PI, OSU) et al.); Lead – Sustainable Infrastructure (SI) Focus Area; SI Focus Area $2,195,772 total. "Exploring Engineering With Nature (EWN) Opportunities and Applications in the Inland United States," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, $2,224,999, 10/2021 to 9/2024 (with Drs. Nairn (PI), Knox, Kolar, Yang, and Hodgson). "SCC-PG: Trust Formation and Risk Communication in Underserved Communities during Compound Hazard Events through Online and Offline Social Networks (TRUCHE)," NSF, $150,000, 10/2022-9/2023 (with Drs. Sadri (PI), Ripberger, and Habibi).

Experience and Awards

Awards: Medal for Excellence in Teaching at a Research University, Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, February 2022. Delivered the Professor A. Thurairajah Memorial Lecture at the University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, November 2018. Kimmell-Bernard Chair in Engineering, July 2010. College of Engineering Alumni Teaching Award, Spring 2009 and Fall 2008 David Ross Boyd Professorship, University of Oklahoma, 2009. Elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, August 2006. George W. Tauxe Outstanding Civil Engineering Professor (awarded by students), University of Oklahoma, 2005. President’s Associates Presidential Professorship, University of Oklahoma, 2005. Williams Faculty Innovator Award (as a part of the Sooner City Faculty Team), Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, June 2000. Regents' Award for Superior Teaching, University of Oklahoma, 2000. Awarded a 1999 Regents Instructional Technology Excellence Award as a part of the Sooner City Faculty Team by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education. College of Engineering Distinguished Lectureship Award (the Engineering Excellence Award), University of Oklahoma, 1998. National Science Foundation, CAREER Award, 1995. Earth Technology Corporation’s Corporate Quality Award for Excellence, 1992.
Experience: Associate Director for Infrastructure & Engineering, Institute for Public Policy Research & Analysis (IPPRA) (previously National Institute for Risk & Resilience), University of Oklahoma (7/2015 – 12/2024). Professor, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma (5/2005 – Present). Associate Professor, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma (7/2000 – 4/2005). Assistant Professor, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, University of Oklahoma (8/1994 – 6/2000). Lecturer (part-time), Department of Civil Engineering, University of California, Irvine (1/1993 - 8/1994). Senior Project, Project, Senior Staff, and Staff Engineer, Earth Tech, Irvine, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and San Bernardino (8/1988 - 8/1994).
REGISTRATION: Professional Engineer, California, since 1992. Geotechnical Engineer, California, since 2002.

Professional Activities and Organizations

Member, Soil Properties and Modeling Committee, Geo-Institute, ASCE (1996 – present).
Member, Unsaturated Soils Committee, Geo-Institute, ASCE (2007 – present).
Member, Poromechanics Committee, Engineering Mechanics Institute, ASCE (2002 – present).
Managing Editor, Special issues on Experimental and Computational Geomechanics for Unsaturated Soils, ASCE International Journal of Geomechanics, December 2013 – June 2016.
Participated in the ASCE’s Legislative Fly-in and discussed critical infrastructure issues facing the US and the new infrastructure report card with staff members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, Washington, D.C., March 2017/March 2018.

Courses Taught

Undergraduate Courses:

CEES 3263: Introduction to Dynamics for Architectural and Civil Engineers.
CEES 4901/4991: Introduction to Civil Engineering/Architectural Engineering Capstone
CEES 4903/4993: Civil Engineering/Architectural Engineering Capstone

Graduate Courses:

CEES 5413: Soil-Structure Interaction
CEES 5353: Introduction to Soil Dynamics

Selected Publications

Hou, G., Muraleetharan, K. K., Panchalogaranjan, V., Moses, P., Javid, A., Al-Dakheeli, H., Bulut, R., Campos, R., Harvey, P.S., Miller, G., Boldes, K., and Narayanan, M. (2023). "Resilience assessment and enhancement evaluation of power distribution systems subjected to ice storms." Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 230, 108964.
Muraleetharan, K.K, Taghavi, A., Bounds, T.D., Zhang, B., Miller, G.A., Peters, W.L., and Floyd, R.W. (2022). "Influence of lateral movements of approach embankments on bridges: A case study.” Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, ASCE, 36(4) (Editor’s Choice Collection).
Chen, S., Abousleiman, Y., and Muraleetharan, K.K. (2022). "Computational implementation of bounding surface model and its verification through cavity benchmark problems." International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, 46(3), 553-569.
Soltani, H., Muraleetharan, K.K., Bulut, R., and Zaman, M. (2019). "Prediction of soil suction using measured climatic data." Environmental Geotechnics, 6(6), 334-352.
Zhang, B., and Muraleetharan, K.K. (2019). "Implementation of a hydro-mechanical elastoplastic constitutive model for fully coupled dynamic analysis of unsaturated soils and its validation using centrifuge test results." Acta Geotechnica, 14, 347-360.
Zhang, B., and Muraleetharan, K.K. (2018). "Liquefaction of level ground unsaturated sand deposits using a validated fully coupled analysis procedure." International Journal of Geomechanics, ASCE, 18(10).
Harvey Jr., P.S., Heinrich, S.K., and Muraleetharan, K.K. (2018). "A framework for post-earthquake response planning in emerging seismic regions: An Oklahoma case study." Earthquake Spectra, 34(2), 503-525.
Taghavi, A., Muraleetharan, K.K., and Miller, G.A. (2017). "Nonlinear seismic behavior of pile groups in cement-improved soft clay." Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 99, 189-202.
Liu, C., Soltani, H., Muraleetharan, K.K., Cerato, A.B., Miller, G.A., and Sritharan, S. (2016). "Cyclic and seismic response of single piles in improved and unimproved soft clays." Acta Geotechnica, 11, 1431-1444.
Fleming, B.J., Sritharan, S., Miller, G.A., Muraleetharan, K.K. (2016). "Full-scale seismic testing of piles in improved and unimproved soft clay." Earthquake Spectra, 32(1), 239-265.