Smith's Elements of Soil Mechanics

Ian Smith is an internationally recognized, senior academic with 6 years of Head/Dean of School experience and 25 years of teaching experience in Geotechnical Engineering. In 2017 he left his senior academic position at Edinburgh Napier University to establish his own consultancy and offer freelance services to geotechnical engineering and to education.

• Part I Fundamentals of soil mechanics1 Classification and Physical Properties of SoilsLearning outcomesAgricultural and engineering soilOrigin of soilClay soilsField identification of soilsLaboratory classification of soilsActivity of a claySoil classification and descriptionSoil propertiesExercises2 Permeability and Flow of Water in SoilsLearning outcomesSubsurface waterFlow of water through soilsDarcy’s law of saturated flowCoefficient of permeability, kDetermination of permeability in the laboratoryDetermination of permeability in the fieldApproximation of coefficient of permeabilityGeneral differential equation of flowPotential and stream functionsFlow netsCritical flow conditionsDesign of soil filtersCapillarity and unsaturated soilsEarth damsSeepage through non-uniform soil depositsExercises3 Total and Effective StressLearning outcomesState of stress in a soil massTotal stressPore PressureEffective stressStresses induced by applied loadsExercises4 Shear Strength of SoilsLearning outcomesElastic stresses and strainsFrictionComplex stressThe Mohr circle diagramCohesionCoulomb’s law of soil shear strengthModified Coulomb’s lawThe Mohr–Coulomb yield theoryDetermination of the shear strength parametersDetermination of the shear strength parameters from triaxial testingThe pore pressure coefficients A and BThe triaxial extension testBehaviour of soils under shearOperative strengths of soilsThe critical stateSensitivity of claysResidual strength of soilExercisesPart II Geotechnical codes and standards and site investigation5  stress paths and critical stateStress paths in two-dimensional spaceStress paths in three-dimensional spaceIsotropic consolidationStress paths in the triaxial apparatusExercises6 Eurocode 7Introduction to the Structural EurocodesIntroduction to Eurocode 7Using Eurocode 7: basis of geotechnical designGeotechnical design by calculationUltimate limit statesThe EQU limit stateThe GEO limit state and Design ApproachesServiceability limit statesGeotechnical design report7 Site InvestigationEN 1997-2:2007 – Ground investigation and testingPlanning of ground investigationsSite exploration methodsSoil and rock samplingGroundwater measurementsField tests in soil and rockGeotechnical reportsPart III Advanced soil mechanics and applications8 Lateral Earth PressureLearning outcomesEarth pressure at restActive and passive earth pressureRankine’s theory: granular soils, active earth pressureRankine’s theory: granular soils, passive earth pressureRankine’s theory: cohesive soilsCoulomb’s wedge theory: active earth pressureCoulomb’s wedge theory: passive earth pressureSurchargesChoice of method for determination of active pressureBackfill materialInfluence of wall yield on designDesign parameters for different soil typesExercises9 Retaining StructuresLearning outcomesMain types of earth retaining structuresGravity wallsEmbedded wallsFailure modes of earth retaining structuresDesign of gravity retaining wallsDesign of sheet pile wallsBraced excavationsReinforced soilSoil nailingExercises10 Bearing Capacity and Shallow FoundationsLearning outcomesBearing capacity termsTypes of foundationUltimate bearing capacity of a foundationDetermination of the safe bearing capacityThe effect of groundwater on bearing capacityDevelopments in bearing capacity equationsDesigning spread foundations to Eurocode 7Non-homogeneous soil conditionsEstimates of bearing capacity from in situ testingExercises11 Pile FoundationsLearning outcomesIntroductionClassification of pilesMethod of installationPile load testingDetermination of the bearing capacity of a pileDesigning pile foundations to Eurocode 7Pile groupsExercises12 Foundation Settlement and soil compressionLearning outcomesSettlement of a foundationImmediate settlementConsolidation settlementApplication of consolidation test resultsGeneral consolidationEurocode 7 serviceability limit stateIsotropic consolidationTwo-dimensional stress pathsExercises13 Rate of Foundation SettlementLearning outcomesAnalogy of consolidation settlementDistribution of the initial excess pore pressure, uiTerzaghi’s theory of consolidationAverage degree of consolidationDrainage path lengthDetermination of the coefficient of consolidation, cv, from the consolidation testDetermination of the permeability coefficient from the consolidation testDetermination of the consolidation coefficient from the triaxial testThe model law of consolidationConsolidation during constructionConsolidation by drainage in two and three dimensionsNumerical determination of consolidation ratesConstruction pore pressures in an earth damNumerical solutions for two- and three-dimensional consolidationSand drainsExercises14 Stability of SlopesLearning outcomesPlanar failuresRotational failuresSlope stability design chartsWedge failureSlope stability analysis to Eurocode 7Exercises15 Compaction and Soil Mechanics Aspects of Highway DesignLearning outcomesField compaction of soilsLaboratory compaction of soilsSpecification of the field compacted densityField measurement testsHighway designExercises16 An introduction to geomechanical modellingLearning outcomesConstitutive models and their use in geotechnical engineeringMicro and macro modelsElastic models: linear, on-linear, isotropic and anisotropicApplications and limitations of elastic modelsIntroduction to plasticity theoryElasto-plastic modelsApplications of elasto-plastic modelsExamplesReferencesIndex