Selected topics in soil mechanics

Status: 14.06.2025

Lecturer

German

Students of masters programme Bauingenieurwesen, 2. term (summer term), mandatory module „Bodenmechanik und Bodendynamik“ for students with specialization in Geotechnical Engineering; compulsory elective course for students with specialization in Structural Engineering, Modelling and Simulation, Port Construction and Coastal Protection
Requirements: Successful participation in the course “Soil Mechanics” in the Bachelor's degree program in Civil and Environmental Engineering, successful participation in the course “Soil Mechanics Internship” in the Master's degree program in Civil Engineering
Attention change: Until summer term 2025 two semester hours pert week (SWS), from summer term one SWS as part of the restructuring of the module “Soil Mechanics and Soil Dynamics”

In-depth study of selected topics in soil mechanics in preparation for project work and Master's theses
Learning various modelling concepts of soil mechanics and evaluating their significance for construction practice

The lecture content includes changing topics from the following areas:

Stress-strain behaviour of soils: experiments, observations, constitutive models, calculating with constitutive equations
Pore fluid flow in soils: experiment, hydraulic models for saturated, dry, and unsaturated soils
Limit and safety analyses: Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM), collapse theories of plasticity theory including lower bound analysis (characteristics method) and upper bound analysis (Kinematic Element Method, Discontinuous Layout Optimization, and numerical methods like Finite Element Method (FEA), Shear Reduction Finite Element Analysis (SRFEA) and Finite Element Limit Analysis (FELA)
Continuum mechanics: Volume fraction concept, principle of effective stress, material independent equations (kinematical equations and balance equations), constitutive equations, initial boundary value problems
Heat transfer in soils: heat conduction, convective heat transport, phase changes, thermal properties of soil constituents and the soil mixture

Teaching material via Stud.IP (lecture notes for lecture and exercises as well as add-ons)

Written exam as part of the module exam „Bodenmechanik und Bodendynamik“ (Duration: 45 Min, weighting according to the ECTS point in the module, Aids: lecture notes and pocket calculator)