Your Tutor: Charlie Price (BA, BAI, MSc, DIC, CEng, MICE, FEngNZ, CPEng(NZ))
Charlie Price profile
Charlie Price profile
To provide a working knowledge of practical soil mechanics sufficient to appreciate:
This course is suitable for those with first degrees or equivalent qualifications in Earth Science, Environmental Science or Engineering, Hydrology or Hydrogeology, and Physical Geography, and for those with qualifications in Civil or Mining Engineering who need to revise their basic Soil Mechanics
To provide a working knowledge of practical soil mechanics sufficient to appreciate:
Completion of the Modules and their coursework will facilitate your ability to converse knowingly with engineers in soil mechanics and hydrogeology, and other professionals in ground engineering.
Introducing the relationships between Particles and Voids, the Mineralogical and Sedimentalogical controls on particles, the Plasticity and Activity of a soil, the Liquid, Plastic and Shrinkage (Atterberg) Limits, the Casagrande chart and A-Line, the Engineering Classification of soils as a function of their plasticity, Particle Size Distribution, Soil Description and Classification, and their differences
(1) To establish an understanding of the materials from which soils are made, the relationships between these materials and the way these relationships are quantified and used to describe soils. (2) To provide a basic appreciation of those natural characters of a soil that influence its deformation, strength and permeability, and should be known from an early stage in any project involving ground engineering. (3) To confirm this with relevant coursework.
Illustrating and explaining the Phase Relationships between ideal Solids, Liquids and Gasses, and the Fundamental Properties these produce, viz. Void Ratio and Porosity, Saturation, Moisture Content, Unit Weight, Density and Specific Gravity. Comparisons are made between the ideal states these relationships describe and those that can be found in real soils where fabric, structure, boring and tunnelling by animals and other natural processes in the presence of plant roots can complicate an “ideal” association.
(1) To provide the basis for understanding the Phase Relationships used in practical Soil Mechanics and their link with vertical profiles on site. (2) To be able to use these relationships in practice to establish soil conditions. (3) To confirm an ability to use these relationships with relevant coursework.
To define the various types of Density encountered in Soil Mechanics and the influence grain size and shape, grading and water content can have on Density. The effect of water on fine soils, the Atterberg Limits and the general relationship between the natural moisture content of a soil in-situ to its the condition relative to its Plastic and Liquid Limit, and strength especially when seen in vertical profiles. Selecting suitable soils for Earthworks and differences in character and behaviour between Coarse and Fine soils; Classes of Fill and the influence and control of Moisture Content upon Fill. Principles of Compaction, control and testing, Optimum Moisture Content, Compaction Curves, and common Methods of Compaction.
(1) To appreciate the role of water in governing the properties and acceptability of soil in Earthworks. (2) To introduce the fundamentals for Selecting Suitable Fill. (3) To grasp the importance of moisture content to Compaction both in the Laboratory and the Field. (4) To provide confidence in using the various relationships commonly employed in practical Soil Mechanics by completing coursework that relates them to everyday situations.
An explanation of the concepts of Force and Stress and how they are used to quantify Normal and Shear stress, Geostatic stress, Lateral stress, Earth pressure at rest and Hydrostatic stress, and the Principle of Effective Stress under saturated and capillary conditions. The relationships of these concepts to Compressibility and Consolidation, the Modulus of Elasticity and Poisson’s Ratio, Drainage conditions under load, Normal and Over-consolidated conditions, and evaluation of the magnitude and time of settlement.
(1) To provide a basic working knowledge of the mechanical principles used in Soil Mechanics and the vocabulary associated with them. (2) To understand the implications of these principles for observations that should be made in the field to capture ground conditions appropriately so that designs and analyses that follow are suitable for the site conditions encountered. (3) To demonstrate by coursework the calculation and plotting of Total and Effective stresses with depth for a vertical profile that crosses a watertable.
An introduction to the concepts of Stress and Strain, Strength and Permeability. Stress and strain and its appearance as linear, bi-linear and non-linear forms in soil, displaying elastic and non-elastic behaviour, strain softening and hardening, stiffness and softness. The Modulus of Elasticity, small and large strains and the changes on unloading and re-loading. Strength as used to describe Ultimate strength, other types of strength and basic tests of strength. Shear strength and its Peak, Critical state, and Residual states, Dilatancy, the Mohr-Coulomb equation and relationships between strength and stiffness. Permeability as the measure of Hydraulic conductivity using Darcy’s equation and its relationship to hydraulic Head, Hydraulic gradient and Discharge.
(1) To provide a basic working knowledge of the meaning of stress, strain, strength and permeability as encountered in soils and the vocabulary associated with them. (2) To illustrate the connections between these phenomena and their links with the principles of Soil Mechanics as given in Part 1. (3) To appreciate their implications at a site for the ground engineering intended. (4) To provide by coursework a demonstration of competence in these subjects in laboratory and field settings.
An appreciation of the concepts of Friction and Cohesion, Mohr Circles and Stress-path plots, covering the Frictional and non-frictional (Cohesive) resistance to Shear, and the shearing of soils. The concept of Mohr-Circles and Failure envelopes for Drained and Undrained shear strength (the concept) and limits for this failure criterion. Stress-strain plots for Drained and Undrained conditions, in Normally and Over-consolidated soils.
(1) To provide a working basis for understanding how the strength and deformation of a granular material is quantified, and the assumptions made when dealing with real soils. (2) To introduce the vocabulary associated with these concepts together with the relationships between them and the principles of Soil Mechanics (as in Parts 1 and 2) to recognise ground conditions that could influence deformation and failure on site. (3) To demonstrate by coursework a practical grasp of the Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria by plotting and interpreting the shear response of consolidated drained and undrained samples in terms of total and effective stress.
An explanation of the hydrostatic relationship between the weight of water and its pressure to the concepts of Head and Effective Stress. The practical methods for measuring Water Levels in the ground and quantifying the pressure and thus the Head and Effective Stress they represent. The differences between Standpipes and Piezometers and the Phreatic (Watertable) levels and Piezometric levels they measure. How these hydrostatic concepts carry into hydrodynamics and permit the movement of groundwater to be predicted via the concepts of Pressure and Elevation Head, Hydraulic Gradient and the concept of Permeability. Maps of Discharge and Head as Flow Nets of Equipotential and Flow Lines, the basic data inputs for them and calculations from them.
(1) To provide a working knowledge of the fundamentals governing the forces created by groundwater. (2) To use the concept of Head in calculating the quantity and direction of flow and the pressure of water at depth. (3) To recognise the basic hydraulic characters of the ground on site. (4) To define and quantify the patterns of groundwater flow across and around a site using flow nets. (5) To provide focussed coursework the completion of which demonstrates a competence in these subjects.
A review of the basic types of Shallow and Deep Foundations and the theoretical distribution of load beneath a foundation as calculated using the distributions of Boussinesq and Westergaard and the charts of Newmark. The concept of Bearing Capacity and how its magnitude may be assessed in drained and undrained conditions; Terzaghi’s Allowable Bearing Pressure Chart. Settlement and its immediate (elastic) and long term (plastic, i.e. consolidation) components and the differences to be expected between Coarse and Fine soils. Deep foundations involving piles; their load-deflection characters and capacity from end bearing and skin friction.
(1) To apply the relevant elements of a Soil Mechanics to foundation design, construction and performance. (2) To related these to data typically provided at an early stage in ground investigation, especially when the vertical profile at a site is being defined and its soils described and logged. (3) To enable initial calculations of bearing capacity and settlement to be obtained from basic field data. (4) To demonstrate competence in these tasks by completion of coursework relevant to footings, rafts, and piles.
To consider the differences between Erosional and Depositional Slopes, the implications for their stability and a review the nature of Failure in slopes, including the concepts of Limiting and Progressive Failure. The differences between First-time and Re-activated failure, the nature of movement within slopes and its approximation to Rigid, Brittle or Plastic bodies or to Flows, and relevant concepts of Strength from Peak to Residual. Factors of Safety against Shear failure, the concept of Stability Numbers and Taylor’s Curves, and the structure and basics of the analyses for a Semi-infinite slope and a Rotational Circular Slip, based on Bishop’s method, in Total and Effective stress.
(1) To provide a working understanding of the observations to make when considering a slope and how the shape, deformations and movements so noted may be related to mechanisms of failure possibly operating. (2) For those mechanisms suspected to be operating to be tested by basic analyses using Stability Charts and by hand. (3) For the output of such analyses conducted by software to be understood and related back to field observations. (4) To provide coursework that enables a grasp of these tasks to be demonstrated.
The differences between Gravity and Embedded retaining walls and their common forms of construction. The Pressures on retaining walls (Earth Pressure at Rest, Passive, Active), the Coulomb and Rankine solutions, Active and Passive conditions, Wall Friction and Deformation. Effective Stress analysis and the effect of Groundwater and Surcharges behind walls, the influence of Cohesion and Tension Cracks. Fundamentals of a Total Stress analysis of stability. Assessing the Stability of Gravity and Embedded Walls and Geological factors that should be considered.
(1) To provide a practical overview of the form, construction and general stability of retaining structures. (2) To explain the nature, origin and forms of Pressure behind retaining walls. (3) To introduce basic solutions for determining the stability of retaining walls in Effective and Total Stress. (4) To consider common features that influence stability. (5) To provide coursework that demonstrates a competence in handling laboratory data relevant to analyses for retaining wall stability and the basic stability of gravity walls.