GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

General Module

Course Sheet

Course code:

40043

Academic Year of enrolment:

2019

Year of supply:

2021/2022

Type of Course:

Characterising

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in BUILDING ENGINEERING

Disciplinary Sector:

Geotechnics

Is part of:

INTEGRATED COURSE IN ENGINEERING GEOLOGY

Location:

PESCARA

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

AMOROSO SARA

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

Prerequisites:

Good knowledge of mathematical analysis and mathematical physics.

Objectives

The educational objectives of the course are to provide to the students the basic knowledge of soil mechanics and hydraulics, constitutive laws, in situ and laboratory investigation and experimentation techniques. Furthermore, the course aims to provide the ability (1) to determine the physical and mechanical parameters of the soil; (2) to plan and interpret the necessary investigations for the design of the main geotechnical works; (3) to use the terminology of the discipline appropriately; (4) to find and understand the scientific literature relating to the main themes of soil mechanics and its applications; (5) to acquire the methodological tools to continue their studies and to provide autonomously for their own updating and classification of the topics covered.

Contents

Soil mechanics. Geotechnical tests on site and in the laboratory. Foundations technical elements and supporting works

Extended Syllabus

0 - Introduction to the course
Peculiarities of geotechnics
Typical geotechnical problems
1 - Origin, constitution, and classification of soil
Soil formation
Soil structure
Relationship between phases and index properties
Grain size composition
Atterberg and consistency index limits
Classification systems
2 - Soil as porous media
Types of groundwater
Analysis of filtration motions in stationary conditions
Darcy's Law, One-dimensional Filtration
Permeability coefficient

3 - Soil stresses
Review on the analysis of continuous stresses and strains
Principle of Effective Tensions
State of stresses in geostatic conditions
Stress states induced by surface loads (Boussinesq and Steinbrenner solutions)
4 - Soil mechanics
Elastic model, plastic model, outline of complex rheological models
Drained and undrained conditions
Compressibility and tension history
Edometric test (diagrams and interpretations)
One-dimensional consolidation theory (outline)
Yielding criteria (Mohr-Coulomb, Tresca)
Soil behavior with simple shear deformation
Direct and torsional shear tests (diagrams and interpretations)
Triaxial tests CID, CIU, UU (diagrams and interpretations)
Undrained resistance
Soil thrust (active and passive states)

5 - On-site investigations
Planning of investigations
Boreholes and sampling
Main on-site geotechnical tests

Recommended Bibliography

Lecture notes of the teacher.
Slide of the teacher's lessons.

Berardi - "Fondamenti di Geotecnica", Città Studi edizioni
Colleselli, Colombo - "Elementi di Geotecnica", Zanichelli

Teaching Methods

The course includes lectures and classroom exercises. The exercises are aimed at clarifying, through application examples, the topics developed in class. The goal is to allow to the student to acquire a familiarity with the results of in situ and laboratory tests, an interpretative ability of the same, an attitude of formulating boundary problems, a critical use of mechanical parameters in the most recurrent geotechnical applications.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The exam provides for the development of a written exam followed, in case of passing, by an oral exam. The written exam, two hours duration, needs the solution of two exercises and of one open question, regarding the full exam program. For each exercise and for the open question, the committee evaluates the accuracy, completeness and organization of the development.
The passing of the written exam allows the access to the oral exam. In case of passing of the written exam, the oral exam must be performed necessarily within the same exam round. The questions of the oral exam require to illustrate orally, with the use of a support (paper or blackboard), arguments regarding the full exam program. For each question, the committee evaluates the accuracy, completeness and organization of the explanation, and also the detail and eventually the autonomy of study, the clarity of presentation and the property of language.
The exam score is expressed with a grade out of thirty.

Contacts/More Information

The discipline needs good mathematical and physical preparation.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree