Giovanni Grasselli

Professor Giovanni Grasselli is affiliated with the Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering at the University of Toronto. He holds the NSERC-Energi Simulation Industrial Research Chair in Fundamental Rock Physics and Rock Mechanics. His research focuses on rock fractures under thermohydro-mechanical conditions, utilizing x-ray tomography and hybrid finite element discrete element methods. His work addresses hydraulic fracturing, rock mechanics, and the hydro-mechanical behavior of rockmasses. Grasselli's lab employs advanced field measurement tools for rock fracture mapping and integrates rock physics with seismic imaging to enhance unconventional petroleum production while minimizing environmental impacts. He is also affiliated with the Lassonde Institute of Mining.

Giovanni Grasselli is a researcher specializing in rock mechanics, rock engineering, and engineering geology. His work focuses on the analysis of rock joint behavior, discontinuity roughness, and numerical modeling techniques for geomechanical applications. Grasselli has contributed to the development of constitutive laws for shear strength of rock joints, the quantification of surface roughness parameters, and the creation of numerical codes such as Y-Geo and FDEM. His research includes experimental and numerical studies of rock failure mechanisms, hydro-mechanical interactions, and the influence of microscale heterogeneity on rock behavior. His publications emphasize the importance of three-dimensional surface descriptions and the integration of discrete element methods in geomechanical simulations.