Summary
Dr Kontoe is a Reader in Soil Dynamics in the Geotechnics section, specialising in the development and application of numerical methods to study the performance of geotechnical structures under static, dynamic and seismic loading.
Dr Kontoe received her Diploma degree in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 2001. She continued her studies at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Imperial College, where she obtained an MSc in Soil Mechanics and Engineering Seismology in 2002 and a PhD in Computational Geomechanics in 2006.
Dr Kontoe’s research experience includes projects on the seismic performance of tunnels, retaining structures and dams, on site response analysis and its incorporation in seismic hazard studies, topographic effects on seismic ground motion, modelling vibrations induced by pile driving and slope stability in strain softening materials. More recent activities also include research on the axial and lateral response of piles supporting offshore wind-turbines. She is actively involved in teaching (geotechnical earthquake engineering, slope stability & geotechnical hazards) at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and she is the Director of Taught Postgraduate Studies for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Dr Kontoe is co-editor for Computers and Geotechnics and serves on the editorial boards of Soil Dynamics & Earthquake Engineering and of the Journal of Earthquake Engineering.
Her publication list on Google Scholar can be found here.
Areas of expertise:
Geotechnical earthquake engineering, computational geomechanics, offshore geotechnics, slope stability, dynamic soil-structure interaction and constitutive modelling.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Wen K, Kontoe S, Jardine RJ, et al., 2023, Assessment of time effects on capacities of large-scale piles driven in dense sands, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol:60, ISSN:0008-3674, Pages:1015-1035
Kontoe S, Summersgill F, Potts D, et al., 2022, On the effectiveness of slope stabilising piles for soils with distinct strain-softening behaviour, Geotechnique, Vol:72, ISSN:1021-8637, Pages:309-321
Buckley R, Kontoe S, Jardine R, et al., 2021, Pile driveability in low-to-medium density chalk, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol:58, ISSN:0008-3674, Pages:650-665
Buckley R, Jardine R, Kontoe S, et al., 2020, Full-scale observations of dynamic and static axial responses of offshore piles driven in chalk and tills, Geotechnique, Vol:70, ISSN:0016-8505, Pages:657-681
Tsaparli V, Kontoe S, Taborda D, et al., 2020, A case study of liquefaction: demonstrating the application of an advanced model and understanding the pitfalls of the simplified procedure, Geotechnique, Vol:70, ISSN:0016-8505, Pages:538-558
Summersgill F, Kontoe S, Potts DM, 2018, Stabilisation of excavated slopes in strain softening materials with piles, Geotechnique, Vol:68, ISSN:0016-8505, Pages:626-639
Han BO, Zdravkovic L, Kontoe S, 2018, Analytical and numerical investigation of site response due to vertical ground motion, Geotechnique, Vol:68, ISSN:0016-8505, Pages:467-480
Buckley RM, Jardine R, Kontoe S, et al., 2018, Ageing and cyclic behaviour of axially loaded piles driven in chalk, Geotechnique, Vol:68, ISSN:0016-8505, Pages:146-161
Han B, Zdravkovic L, Kontoe S, et al., 2017, Numerical investigation of multi-directional site response based on KiK-net downhole array monitoring data, Computers and Geotechnics, Vol:89, ISSN:1873-7633, Pages:55-70
Tsaparli V, Kontoe S, Taborda D, et al., 2016, Vertical ground motion and its effects on liquefaction resistance of fully saturated sand deposits, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical & Engineering Sciences, Vol:472, ISSN:1364-5021, Pages:1-21
Conference
Kontoe S, Han B, Zdravkovic L, et al., 2018, The importance of compressional deformation in three dimensional site response analysis, 16th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering