Geotechnical
Engineering:
Geotechnical Engineering is the branch
of Civil Engineering concerned with the study of behavior of soils under the
influence of loading forces and soil water interactions. This knowledge is
applied to the design of foundations , retaining walls, earth dams, clay liners
and geosynthetics for waste containment.
Geotechnical Engineering is important
in Civil Engineering but also has
applications in military, mining, petroleum and other engineering disciplines
that are concerned with construction occurring on the surface or within the
ground.
Introduction
To Soil Mechanics
Soil
The term 'soil' has various meanings
depending upon the general professional field.
As an agricultural sense, soil is the
substance existing on the earth surface which grows and develops plant life.
As the geological sense, soil is the
material in the relatively thin surface zone within which roots or occurred and
all the rest of the crust is grouped under the the term 'rock' irrespective of
its hardness.
To an engineer, soil is the
unaggregated or uncemented deposits of mineral or organic particles or
fragments covering large portion of the earth crust.
Soil is used as a construction
material in various Civil Engineering projects and it supports structural
foundations. Thus, Civil engineers must study the properties of soil such as
its origin, grain size distribution, ability to drain water, compressibility,
shear strength and load bearing capacity.
Soil
Mechanics
Soil Mechanics is the branch of Civil
Engineering that deals with the study of physical properties of soil and the
behavior of soil masses subjected to various types of loading.
Soil
Engineering
Soil Engineering is the application of
the principles of soil mechanics to practical problems.
| Scope of Soil Engineering |
A foundation is termed shallow
foundation when it transmits the load to upper strata of earth.
Figure: Shallow Foundation
A foundation is called deep foundation
when the load is transmitted to strata at considerable depth below the ground
surface.
Figure: Deep Foundation
ii) Retaining Structure: When
sufficient space is not available for a mass of soil to spread and form a safe
slope, structure is required to retain the soil. An earth retaining structure
is also required to keep the soil at different levels on its either side.
Figure: Retaining wall
Figure: Sheet Pile
The retaining structure may be rigid
retaining wall or a sheet pile bulkhead which is relatively flexible.
iii) Stability of Slopes: If soil
surface is not horizontal, there is a component of weight of the soil which
tends to move it downward and thus causes instability of slopes. The slope may
be natural or manmade. Soil Engineering provides the method for checking the
stability of slopes.
Figure: a) Slopes filling b) Slopes
cutting
iv) Underground Structure: The design
and construction of underground structure such as tunnel, shaft and conduits
required elevation of forces exerted by the soil on the structure. A tunnel
constructed below the ground surface and a conduit laid below the ground
surface.
Figure: Tunnel
Figure: Conduit
v) Pavement Design: A pavement is a
hard crust placed on soil for the purpose of providing a smooth and strong
surface on which vehicles can move. The behavior of sub-grade under various conditions of loading
and environmental changes is studied in soil engineering.
vi) Earth Dam: Earth dams are huge
structures in which soil is used as a construction material. The earth dams are
built for creating water reservoirs.
Figure: Pavement Design
vii) Miscellaneous soil problem: The
geotechnical engineer has sometimes to tackle to miscellaneous problem related
with soil such as soil heave, soil subsidence, frost heave, shrinkage and
swelling of soil.
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন