CIVIL-402 / 4 credits

Teacher(s): Koliji Azad, Laloui Lyesse

Language: English


Summary

The course aims at providing future civil engineers with the knowledge of geomechanics for professional practice. It addresses, among others, the main stress-strain constitutive models within the context of elasticity and elasto-plasticity and the estimation methods of the lateral earth pressure.

Content

Keywords

Mechanical behaviour of geomaterial, Constitutive models, elasto-plasticity, numerical modelling in geomechanics, laboratory and in-situ testing

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

Soil mechanics and groundwater seepage

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Recognize the stress path(s) to which the soil is subjected in the context of the engineering application of interest
  • Use methods for evaluating the in-situ stress state
  • Recognize the most suitable constitutive model for the problem of interest in relation to the soil and the problem itself
  • Judge capabilities and limitations of constitutive models
  • Assess / Evaluate Evaluate the geotechnical parameters governing the geomechanical problem
  • Choose the correct laboratory or in-situ tests for the determination of the needed parameters
  • Interpret the experimental data resulting from a laboratory campaign in order to obtain the parameters of interest
  • Assess / Evaluate the lateral earth pressure under different hydraulic conditions
  • Use consciously a finite element software for creating a geomechanical model appropriate for the problem of interest

Transversal skills

  • Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
  • Use a work methodology appropriate to the task.
  • Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
  • Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
  • Use both general and domain specific IT resources and tools
  • Access and evaluate appropriate sources of information.

Teaching methods

  • Ex cathedra and exercices

Assessment methods

Final exam (written): 60% of the final mark

Mid-term exam (written): 20% of the final mark

Continuous assessment (workshops and projects): 20% of the final mark

 

Supervision

Office hours No
Assistants Yes
Forum No

Resources

Bibliography

Lectures notes and handouts given during the course

Moodle Link

In the programs

  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Geomechanics
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Semester: Fall
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Geomechanics
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exam form: Written (winter session)
  • Subject examined: Geomechanics
  • Lecture: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks

Reference week

 MoTuWeThFr
8-9     
9-10     
10-11     
11-12     
12-13     
13-14     
14-15     
15-16     
16-17     
17-18     
18-19     
19-20     
20-21     
21-22     

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