Study-unit GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
| Course name | Civil and environmental engineering |
|---|---|
| Study-unit Code | 70721410 |
| Location | PERUGIA |
| Curriculum | Comune a tutti i curricula |
| Lecturer | Claudio Tamagnini |
| Lecturers |
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| Hours |
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| CFU | 10 |
| Course Regulation | Coorte 2023 |
| Supplied | 2025/26 |
| Supplied other course regulation | |
| Learning activities | Caratterizzante |
| Area | Ingegneria della sicurezza e protezione civile, ambientale e del territorio |
| Sector | ICAR/07 |
| Type of study-unit | Obbligatorio (Required) |
| Type of learning activities | Attività formativa monodisciplinare |
| Language of instruction | Italian |
| Contents | Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Soil identification and classification for technical purposes. Granular soils and rocks as continuous multiphase media. Fundamental balance principles. The principle of effective stress. Experimental evidences on the mechanical and hydraulic behavior of soils. Governing equations for coupled deformation and flow processes in saturated soils. Uncoupling equilibrium and balance of mass equations: fully drained and fully undrained conditions. Stationary seepage problems in geotechnical engineering. Constitutive equations for the solid skeleton: elasticity, perfect plasticity, hardening plasticity. Safety assessment with respect to SLS: settlements of shallow foundations; 1d theory of consolidation. Safety assessment with respect to ULS: upper and lower bound theorems of limit analysis; evaluation of bearing capacity of shallow footings: evaluation of earth pressures on rigid retaining structures. |
| Reference texts | Burghignoli A., Lezioni di meccanica delle terre. ESA, Roma 1985. Lancellotta R., Geotecnica, Zanichelli, Bologna 1993. C. Tamagnini (2024). Dispense del corso di Meccanica dei Terreni, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Ambientale, Perugia (available on the UNIStudium platform). |
| Educational objectives | The knowledge and skills which the students are expected to acquire from the course will include: Part I – Soil Mechanics a) Identification and classification of natural soils for technical purposes. b) Acquisitions of the basic principles of the mechanics of granular multiphase continuous media, and the Principle of Effective Stress. c) Knowledge of the main experimental findings concerning the features of the mechanical behavior of soils in terms of shear strength, deformability and permeability. d) Acquisition of the fundamental principles of the constitutive modeling of soils, including classical models widely used in geotechnical practice (linear elasticity, perfect plasticity and hardening plasticity). Part II – Applied Geotechnical Engineering a) Resolution of 1d and 2d stationary seepage problems in typical geotechnical applications. b) Evaluation of safety conditions with respect to SLS: calculation of settlements of shallow foundations; Terzaghi’s theory of 1d consolidation. c) Evaluation of safety conditions with respect to ULS: bearing capacity of shallow footings; earth pressures on rigid retaining walls. |
| Prerequisites | The students are required to have successfully passed the exams of the courses: “Meccanica Razionale”, “Idraulica” and “Scienza delle Costruzioni”. |
| Teaching methods | Teaching methods and support tools include: a) Frontal lectures in class, with frequent interactions with the students by means of questions and answer sessions on the most significant topics covered; b) Assisted class works including hand calculations as well as the development of computer-based solution using excel or matlab; c) Class seminars on specific topics, with overhead slide projector. |
| Other information | For additional information, please check the website of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the following link: http://www.ing1.unipg.it/didattica/studiare |
| Learning verification modality | The evaluation is based on a oral test, with a duration of 120' and a written test, with a duration of about 30’. Only the students who have passed the written exam with a score equal or larger than 18/30 are ammitted to the oral exam. The final score is assigned based on a weighted average of the two tests. |
| Extended program | Part I – Soil Mechanics Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Identification and classification of natural soils for technical purposes. Application of the basic principles of the mechanics of multiphase continuous media to natural soils. Balance equations for mass, linear momentum and angular momentum in local form. Constitutive equations for the solid skeleton: the Principle of Effective Stress. Experimental evidences on the main features of the mechanical behavior of soils in terms of shear strength, deformability and permeability, and their mathematical description by means of classical constitutive models. Constitutive equations for the solid skeleton: theory of linear elasticity, theory of perfect plasticity and theory of hardening plasticity. Constitutive equations for the liquid phase: Darcy’s law. Part II – Applied Geotechnical Engineering Governing equations for coupled deformation and flow processes in saturated soils. Particular cases: drained and undrained conditions. Resolution of stationary seepage problems for typical geotechnical engineering applications. Evaluation of safety with respect to SLS. Calculation of settlements of shallow foundations. Terzaghi’s 1d consolidation theory. Evaluation of safety with respect to ULS. The evaluation of collapse loads in geotechnical structures. Upper and lower bound theorems of limit analysis. Bearing capacity of shallow footings. Earth pressures on rigid retaining structures. |
| Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile | This course contributes to the fulfillment of the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. |