2. Professors
  3. Teaching

SOIL MECHANICS

Michele CALVELLO SOIL MECHANICS

0612100015
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
EQF6
BSC DEGREE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
2024/2025

OBBLIGATORIO
YEAR OF COURSE 3
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2022
AUTUMN SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
660LESSONS
MICHELE CALVELLO T Curriculum
Objectives
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
THE COURSE AIMS TO PROVIDE THE MAIN THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL FOUNDATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF SOILS AND THEIR ENGINEERING MODELING IN RELATION TO NUMEROUS STRESS CONDITIONS.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
THE STUDENT WILL KNOW THE FOLLOWING DISCIPLINARY FOUNDATIONS: TENSIONAL AND DEFORMATIONAL STATE OF MULTIPHASE GRANULAR MEDIA; MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF SOILS; FILTERING MOTIONS IN A PERMANENT AND VARIED REGIME IN THE SOIL.

ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO:
- ANALYZE THE TENSION AND DEFORMATION STATE OF THE SOIL;
- ANALYZE THE PORE PRESSURE REGIME IN SATURATED SOILS IN HYDROSTATIC CONDITIONS AND IN THE PRESENCE OF FILTRATION MOTIONS;
- USE CONCEPTUAL MODELS TO PREDICT THE MECHANICAL RESPONSE OF A VOLUME ELEMENT OF A MULTIPHASE MEDIUM UNDER THE MOST VARIED STRESS CONDITIONS.

AUTONOMY OF JUDGEMENT
THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE MOST APPROPRIATE METHODS FOR THE STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF SOIL BEHAVIOR.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO WORK IN A GROUP AND ORALLY PRESENT A TOPIC RELATED TO THE MECHANICS OF MULTIPHASE MEDIA.

LEARNING ABILITY
THE STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED TO CONTEXTS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PRESENTED DURING THE TEACHING, AND EXPLORE THE TOPICS COVERED USING MATERIALS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PROPOSED.
Prerequisites
PREREQUISITES
- STRAIN AND STRESS STATE OF SOLIDS
- BEHAVIOR OF FLUIDS IN STATIONARY AND TRANSIENT FLOW CONDITIONS
- GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NATURAL DEPOSITS
- NATURE AND GENESIS OF SOILS

PRELIMINARY COMPULSORY EXAMS: SOLID MECHANICS, HYDRAULICS
Contents
IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS (THEORY: 5 HOURS; TUTORIAL ACTIVITY: 2 HOURS)
GRANULOMETRIC CURVES AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES FOR THEIR DETERMINATION. PLASTICITY AND OTHER INDEX PROPERTIES OF FINE-GRAINED SOILS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES FOR THEIR DETERMINATION. RELATIVE DENSITY OF COARSE-GRAINED SOILS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES FOR ITS DETERMINATION.

STRAIN AND STRESS STATES IN SOILS (THEORY: 7 HOURS; TUTORIAL ACTIVITY: 3 HOURS)
CONTINUUM MECHANICS AND MULTIPHASE GRANULAR MATERIALS. PRINCIPLE OF EFFECTIVE STRESS. STRAIN AND STRESS STATE GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION: MOHR CIRCLES, STRAIN AND STRESS INVARIANTS, STRESS PATHS IN - PLANE, TRIAXIAL PLANE AND Q-P PLANE. LITOSTATIC STRESSES AND EARTH PRESSURE COEFFICIENT. CAPILLARITY.

GROUNDWATER FLOW AND CONSOLIDATION (THEORY: 13 HOURS; TUTORIAL ACTIVITY: 6 HOURS)
SEEPAGE EQUATIONS. DARCY LAW. STATIONARY CONDITIONS GROUNDWATER FLOW. LAPLACE EQUATION. DRAINED AND UNDRAINED CONDITIONS. COMPRESSIBILITY OF FINE-GRAINED AND COARSE-GRAINED SOILS. EXCESS PORE PRESSURE INDUCED BY UNDRAINED LOADING. CONSOLIDATION THEORY.

MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOILS (THEORY: 9 HOURS; TUTORIAL ACTIVITY: 0 HOURS)
EOTECHNICAL LABORATORY EQUIPMENT. STRENGTH OF FINE-GRAINED AND COARSE-GRAINED SOILS. DILATANCY. SOIL STRENGTH CRITERIA. PLASTIC DEFORMATION AND PLASTICITY MODEL. HARDENING PLASTIC BEHAVIOR.

LABORATORY TESTING FOR THE MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SOILS (THEORY: 6 HOURS; TUTORIAL ACTIVITY: 9 HOURS)
OEDOMETER TEST. DIRECT SHEAR TEST. TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION TEST.
Teaching Methods
CLASSES (40 HOURS, 4 CFU) AND TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES (20 HOURS, 2 CFU)
- THE COURSE TOPICS ARE PRESENTED DURING THE CLASSES.
- DURING THE TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES A PROBLEM IS SOLVED USING THE TECHNIQUES PRESENTED IN THE THEORETICAL LESSONS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TUTORIAL ACTIVITY IS GUIDED BY THE TEACHER AND TENDS TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN THE STUDENT'S ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE MOST SUITABLE TECHNIQUES FOR THE PROBLEM CONSIDERED.
- MULTIPLE-CHOICE SELF-ASSESSMENT TESTS ARE ALSO PROVIDED TO THE STUDENTS, GROUPED BY TOPICS AS FOLLOWS: IDENTIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF LAND; TENSIONS AND DEFORMATIONS; FILTRATION AND CONSOLIDATION MOTIONS; RESISTANCE AND CRITICAL STATE; LABORATORY MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION TESTS.

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE: 70% OF TEACHING HOURS
Verification of learning
WRITTEN TEST (DURATION: 35 MINUTES) AND ORAL EXAM (TYPICAL DURATION: 20 MINUTES) AT THE END OF THE COURSE. BOTH THE TEST AND THE ORAL EXAM ARE TYPICALLY CONDUCTED IN THE SAME DAY.

THE WRITTEN TEST CONSISTS OF A SHORT SERIES OF OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS ON TWO TOPICS OF THE COURSE, ROTATING BETWEEN THE FOLLOWING FIVE: GEOSTATIC STRESSES, GROUNDWATER FLOW, ONE-DIMENSIONAL CONSOLIDATION AND OEDOMETER TEST, DIRECT SHEAR TEST, TRIAXIAL TEST. THE MAXIMUM EVALUATION FOR EACH TOPIC IS EQUAL TO 16 POINTS, THEREFORE THE MAXIMUM SCORE OF THE WRITTEN TEST IS EQUAL TO 32. TO ACCESS THE ORAL TEST IT IS NECESSARY TO PASS THE WRITTEN TEST WITH A MINIMUM SCORE OF 18.

THE ORAL EXAM CONSISTS OF AN INTERVIEW IN WHICH THE LEVEL OF THE STUDENT'S THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE IS ASSESSED ON COURSE TOPICS NOT COVERED IN THE WRITTEN TEST. THE ORAL EXAMINATION IS ALSO AIMED AT DEEPENING THE AUTONOMY OF ANALYSIS AND JUDGMENT AND THE STUDENT'S EXHIBITION SKILLS.

THE EVALUATION OF THE TESTS TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY OF THE ANSWERS IN THE WRITTEN TEST, THE CLARITY OF THE ANSWERS IN THE ORAL TEST, AS WELL AS THE READINESS DEMONSTRATED BY THE STUDENT IN THE PRESENTATION OF THE TOPICS COVERED. THE FINAL GRADE IS EXPRESSED IN THIRTIETHS WITH POSSIBLE "LAUDE". THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT (18) IS ASSIGNED WHEN THE STUDENT HAS A PIECEMEAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPICS COVERED AND SHOWS A LIMITED ABILITY TO USE THEM IN THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY. THE MAXIMUM LEVEL (30) IS ASSIGNED WHEN THE STUDENT DEMONSTRATES A COMPLETE AND IN-DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS AND HAS A CONSIDERABLE ABILITY TO USE THEM IN THE CONTEXT OF STUDY. PRAISE IS GIVEN WHEN THE CANDIDATE DEMONSTRATES SIGNIFICANT MASTERY OF METHODOLOGIES AND TOOLS AND SHOWS CONSIDERABLE OWNERSHIP OF LANGUAGE AND AUTONOMOUS PROCESSING SKILLS EVEN IN CONTEXTS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PROPOSED BY THE TEACHER.
Texts
BOOK: FONDAMENTI DI GEOTECNICA. BERARDI R., CITTÀSTUDI EDIZIONI (SECOND EDITION 2013, THIRD EDITION 2017).

THE TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES, THE PREVIOUS WRITTEN EXAMS AND THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TESTS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE OF THE COURSE.
Lessons Timetable

  BETA VERSION Data source ESSE3 [Ultima Sincronizzazione: 2024-11-18]