Geotechnical Engineering
Soil behaves differently from every other engineering material because part of it is water that can leave, slowly. These topics animate the phases, the pressures between them, and what happens when the water is squeezed out.
Start from the beginning →1 topic you can watch now, 24 still to come.
Soil as a material
The three-phase model, and the index properties built on it.
- Weight-volume relationships
- Particle size distribution and sieve analysis
- Atterberg limits and consistency
- Soil classification systems
- Compaction and the Proctor test
Permeability and seepage
Water moving through the gaps, and the pressure it carries.
- Darcy's law and coefficient of permeability
- Laboratory and field permeability tests
- Seepage pressure and quicksand condition
- Flow nets
Stress and consolidation
Effective stress, and why settlement takes years.
- Total, neutral and effective stress
- Stress distribution: Boussinesq and Westergaard
- Compressibility and the e-log p curve
- Terzaghi's one-dimensional consolidation theory
- Time rate of settlement
Shear strength
The strength that decides whether the ground holds.
- Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion
- Direct shear and triaxial tests
- Drained and undrained conditions
- Unconfined compression and vane shear
Earth pressure and foundations
What the theory is for.
- Rankine and Coulomb earth pressure theories
- Retaining wall stability
- Slope stability analysis
- Bearing capacity: Terzaghi and IS methods
- Shallow and deep foundations, pile capacity
- Site investigation and SPT