I received a Ph.D. in physics (General Relativity) from the University of Victoria in Canada.

Following a postdoc at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology I moved to southern Africa. After four years at the University of Lesotho I joined AECI Explosives, where I conducted research on detonation and blast modeling. During this time I taught graduate-level modules on detonation theory and blast modeling for the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Witwatersrand. After I left AECI Explosives I worked as a private consultant before joining the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town. While there I worked on the Discrete Element Modeling of grinding mills, and began development of a combined Discrete Element / Smoothed Particle (DEM / SPH) code to model solid / fluid mixtures.

I returned to the United States in September, 2005.

Some of my publications, research reports and presentations are:

F I Cooperstock and R S Sarracino. “Localization of Energy in General Relativity”. J Phys A: Math Gen 11, 877 (1978)

J Carminati and R S Sarracino. “R-Separable Solutions of Einstein’s Equations”. J Phys A: Math Gen 15, 240 (1982)

S A Colgate, A G Petschek and R S Sarracino. “Gamma Burst Emission From Neutron Star Accretion”. AIP Conference Proceedings No. 115, Santa Cruz, CA (High Energy Transients in Astrophysics), 548 (1983)

R S Sarracino and M J Eccles. “The Maximum Mass of a Neutron Star”. Astro & Space Sci 111, 375 (1985). [Presented at the American Astronomical Society 161st Meeting, Boston, MA, January 1983].

R S Sarracino, G Prasad and M Hoohlo. “A Mathematical Model of Spheroidal Weathering”. Math Geol 19, 269 (1987)

R S Sarracino and A B Warren. “Finite Element Detonator and Booster Modelling”.
Proceedings of the National Symposium on Explosives Technology and Ballistics,
Arcadia,RSA (1989)

C V B Cunningham and R S Sarracino. “The Standardisation of Explosives Ratings by Ideal Detonation Codes”. Proceedings of the Third International Symposiuim on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, Brisbane, Australia (1990)

R S Sarracino and J R Brinkmann. “The Modelling of Shock Effects in Blasthole Liner Experiments”. Proceedings of the Third International Symposiuim on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, Brisbane, Australia (1990)

R Wittenberg and R S Sarracino. “Nonlinear Stress-Strain Relationships in Isotropic Media, With an Application to the Hugoniot Shock Equations”. AECI Research Report RN 1359 (1991)

R S Sarracino. “Revised JWL Parameters for PETN and Lead Azide”. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Explosives Technology and Ballistics, Pretoria, RSA (1992)

M J Louw, R S Sarracino and S M Vather. “A Comparison of the Theoretical and Measured Velocities of Detonation for Selected Explosives”. SAIMM 93, 147 (1993)

R S Sarracino. “The Modelling of Emulsion in Quartzite Conglomerate”. AERD 1440 (1994)

R S Sarracino and J R Brinkmann. “Modelling of Blasthole Liner Experiments”.
The Second International Symposium on Fragmentation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1994.

R S Sarracino and A Guest. “Measured and Predicted Strains in the Near Zone of a
Blasthole”. Proceedings of the 1995 APS Topical Conference on Shock Compression of Condensed Matter, Seattle, Washington, August 1995.

R S Sarracino. “An Introduction to Detonation Theory”. Fourth Workshop on Differential Equations and Chaos, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, January 1996.

D O Potyondy, R S Sarracino and P A Cundall. “Modeling of Shock- and Gas-Driven Fractures Induced by a Blast Using Bonded Assemblies of Spherical Particles”. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Rock Fragmentation by Blasting, Montreal, August 1996.

R Sarracino. “The Addition of a Compressible Fluid Flow Module to PFC3D”. AEL Research Report, 1997

R Sarracino. “Short-, Medium- and Long-term Research Options for AEL in Detonation and Rock Modelling”. AEL Research Report, 1998.

R S Sarracino, H Dong and M H Moys. “An Experimental and Theoretical Study of Ball-Wall Impact for DEM Modeling of Tumbling Mills”. Presented at the Third International Conference on Discrete Element Methods, September, 2002, Santa Fe, NM, USA.

M H Moys and R S Sarracino. “Discrete Element Modelling of Particulate Processes: A Review of Work at Wits University”. Annual Conference of the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers, (SAICHE 2003), August, 2003, Menlo Park, South Africa.

R Sarracino, A McBride and M Powell. “Using Particle Flow Code to Investigate Energy Dissipation in a Rotary Grinding Mill”. Presentation at the 2nd International PFC Symposium, Numerical Modeling in Micromechanics via Particle Methods, Kyoto, Japan, 28-20 October, 2004; Proceedings, Numerical Modeling in Micromechanics via Particle Methods – 2004, Shimazu, Y, Hart, RD and Cundall, PA, eds (Balkema, 2004).

R. Sarracino. “Development of Contact Models for DEM Simulations of Mill Charge Motion”. AMIRA P9M Project, 11th Progress Report, prepared for sponsors’ meeting held June 2005, Brisbane, Australia

R. Sarracino and K. Penzhorn. “Integrating Particle / Fluid Motion with DEM / SPH”. Presented at the Eighth US National Congress on Computational Mechanics, 25-27 July, 2005, Austin, Texas

R Chandramohan, M S Powell and R Sarracino. “Incorporating Measured Material Interaction Properties in Discrete Element Methods”. Presented at Mineral Processing 2005, 4-5 August 2005, Cape Town, South Africa

I Govender, R Sarracino and M S Powell. “Validation of DEM Using an Empirical Power Model Derived from 3D Particle Tracking Experiments”. Presented at Mineral Processing 2005, 4-5 August 2005, Cape Town, South Africa