Soil Mechanics Series - Stress and Strain

Yun Zhou, Ph.D., P.E.

Course Outline

In this course, you need to review Chapter 2 – Stress and Strain in Soils from “Reference Manual Volume I, SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS”, Publication No. FHWA NHI-06-088, by Federal Highway Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation. 

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end of each of the five lectures, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course material.

Learning Objective

Upon completion of this course, the student will gain the following specific knowledge: 

• Three-phase (solid, liquid, and gas) composition of soil mass;
• Soil phase diagram and basic volume-weight relationships;
• Basic theory of effective stress;
• Basic theory of consolidation;
• Basic theory of Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) failure criterion;
• Basic theory of Rankine active and passive failure zones;
• The relationship between Ka (coefficient of active earth pressure) and Kp (coefficient of passive earth pressure);
• Practical approach in evaluating volume-weight properties;
• Practical approach in evaluating effective overburden stresses;
• Practical approach in evaluating depth of major stress bulb;
• Practical approach in evaluating 2:1 stress distribution; and
• Practical approach in evaluating soil shear strength as defined by M-C criterion.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for geotechnical, civil, mining, structural, and environmental engineers, as well as design and construction personnel involved with the planning, design, and construction of building structures on, in, and with soils.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendee of this course will be able to understand and deal with issues associated with soil stress and strain.

Course Introduction

Due to the three phase composition of soils, complex states of stresses and strains may exist in a soil mass. Proper quantification of these states of stress, and their corresponding strains is a required task in the design and construction of infrastructure facilities.

Course Content

The associated course materials are contained in an Adobe Acrobat pdf format of Chapter 2 – Stress and Strain in Soils from “Reference Manual Volume I, SOILS AND FOUNDATIONS”, Publication No. FHWA NHI-06-088, by Federal Highway Administration of U.S. Department of Transportation.

Chapter 2 – Stress and Strain in Soils

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Course Summary

This course, as a part of soil mechanics series, covers basic theories and practical applications of stress and strain in soils.

Related Links

For additional information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

PDHonline Course C519 - Soil Mechanics Series - Deformation
PDHonline Course C520 - Soil Mechanics Series - Description and Classification
PDHonline Course C521 - Soil Mechanics Series - Subsurface Exploration
PDHonline Course C522 - Soil Mechanics Series - Laboratory Testing

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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