72765 - GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course aims to provide students with in-depth knowledge and practical skills in advanced soil mechanics and geotechnical modeling, focusing on applications in civil engineering design. By the end of the course, students will have gained a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental and advanced principles of soil behavior under various loading conditions, which are essential for assessing soil-structure interaction. They will acquire knowledge of geotechnical characterization methods, applicable both in laboratory and in situ, aligning with the program's objective to prepare students for design, construction, and stability assessments in civil engineering. In terms of skills, students will be proficient in evaluating and comparing key physical and mechanical soil parameters through experimental testing, integrating techniques from soil mechanics for geotechnical assessments. They will also be capable of applying geotechnical models for the design and stability analysis of primary geotechnical structures, in line with the CdS’s emphasis on operational and methodological expertise in civil structure and infrastructure projects. Furthermore, students will develop the competence to conduct analyses of foundation and retaining structure stability, including complex soil behaviors and ensuring reliable, safety-oriented designs.

Contenuti

Requirements

A prior knowledge and understanding of Continuum Mechanics, Hydraulics and Soil Mechanics is required to attend with profit this course. This knowledge is considered to be acquired after having passed the following undergraduate courses: Structural Mechanics, Hydraulics and Geotechnics.

Fluent spoken and written English is a necessary pre-requisite: all lectures and tutorials, as well as the study material will be in English.

COURSE CONTENTS

Basic concepts of Soil Mechanics and Critical State. Stress paths: drained and undrained conditions; total and effective stress analyses.

Definition of the geotechnical model and parameters. Planning and execution of site investigations and geotechnical monitoring. Geotechnical characterization by in situ and laboratory tests. Characteristic and design values of relevant parameters.

Design of geotechnical works. Limit equilibrium methods; plasticity and limit analysis.

Earth retaining structures. Types of earth retaining structures. Gravity retaining walls: criteria for design and stability analyses.

Shallow foundations. Undrained and drained bearing capacity. Serviceability limit states and settlement calculation.

Pile foundations. Pile types and installation methods, load and integrity tests. Bearing Capacity of single piles under axial loading.

For all topics the taught concepts are applied to practical problems through specific exercises and examples.

Testi/Bibliografia

Lecture and exercise notes.

Knappett, J., Craig, R. (2019-10-11). Craig's Soil Mechanics, 9th Edition

Metodi didattici

The course is divided in two modules.

The first module is taught by Professor Michela Marchi.

The second module is taught by Professor Guido Gottardi.

Lectures by invited foreign professors can be included.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Assessment is based on a final exam, aimed at assessing the understanding of concepts and the acquisition of related competences. The exam consists of a preliminary written test, which requires the solution of numerical exercises, and a final oral session, which deals with more theoretical issues. The exam, in both written and oral parts, concern all the topics developed during the lessons, i.e. the geotechnical characterization of a site using laboratory and in situ tests and the design criteria of simple geotechnical works.

Higher grades will be awarded to students who can demonstrate an organic understanding of the subject, a capacity of presenting the course contents in a clear and concise way and an ability of critically discussing the results achieved. To obtain a passing grade, students are required to show their knowledge of at least the key concepts of the subject, some ability for their critical application and a correct use of technical language. A failing grade will be awarded if the student shows knowledge gaps in key-concepts of the subject, inappropriate use of language, and/or logic failures in the analysis of the subject.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

The lectures are presented with the aid of slides and integrated with demonstrations at the board. Practical examples are illustrated during the course, also with applications.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Michela Marchi

Consulta il sito web di Guido Gottardi