Basic Soil Mechanics

• Describe the processes of ground formationand link soil properties to different deposition environments.
• List the steps in the ground investigation workflow and describe the activities in each steps and their purpose.
• Describe the classification tests and use their results to distinguish between gravel, sand, silt and clay according to the unified soil classification system.
• Calculate vertical and horizontal stresses in soil (total, effective and pore pressures).
• Describe and interpret laboratory and field tests to obtain the effective (drained) strength parameters and undrained strength parameters.
• Calculate bearing capacity for shallow and deep footings.
• Describe and interpret consolidation tests to obtain deformation and consolidation parameters.
• Use deformation parameters to calculate one-dimensional settlements.
• Use one-dimensional consolidation theory to calculate consolidation time and the development of stresses and deformations as function of time in a soil layer.
• Combine strength and deformation properties determined from tests into a simple constitutive model for soil.

Ground formation and ground investigation principles. Soil classification and description. The principle of effective stress, capillarity. Groundwater, permeability and one-dimensional water flow. Strength of soil: triaxial, shear box and cone penetration test, short and long term strength of soil. Field measurements: vane test, standard penetration test, cone penetration test. One-dimensional consolidation and compression, oedometer test. Settlements and bearing capacity of shallow footings.

12604, 12604 Construction Materials – use and testing

Lectures, tutorials, laboratory exercises.

This course is a prerequisite for course 12412: basic geotechnical engineering.