• 051754 - GEOTECHNICAL DESIGN

The aim of the course is providing to the students the tools to the define the geotechnical model of the subsoil by laboratory and in situ tests and to perform the preliminary design of geotechnical structures, according to the framework introduced in the Eurocode 7 and, in particular, in the Italian Regulations (Normativa Tecnica per le Costruzioni, 2008).

Students will acquire the knowledge to deal with the creation of the geotechnical model of the subsoil by using both in situ and laboratory testing and to design/verify standard geotechnical structures. Theoretical aspects and practical issues related to excavations, wellbores, sampling, penetration tests, piezometers, geophysical methods and laboratory tests will be introduced. Standard approaches for the design and verification of geotechnical structures -e.g. shallow foundations, piles, rigid and flexible walls - at both the ultimate and the serveicebility limit states will be revisited and/or introduced in the light of Eurocode7, in order to provide the basic knowledge of geotechnical desing in static and seismic conditions. The understanding of the aformentioned issues will be based on theoretical fundamentals related to soil mechanics and soil-structure interaction.

From the practical point of view, students will then be able to:

- Create the geotechnical model of the subsoil for a specific application, including the definition of the geometry, the identification of the relevant materials and of the intial pore water pressure distribution, the the choice of a suitable constitutive law and the quantitative determination of the values taken by the mechanical/hydraulic parameters;

- Characterize from the engineering point of view the behaviour of coarse and fine grained soil, relying on both laboratory and in situ tests;

- Design and verify shallow foundations at both the ultimate and serveicebility limite state;

- Design and verify deep foundations at both the ultimate and serveicebility limite state;

- Design gravity and flexible walls;

- Use the pseudo-static method to perform the desing in seismic conditions.

The main topics of the course will be:

•    Excavations, borehole logs and sampling;
•    In situ testing: execution and result interpretation (Standard Penetration Test, Cone Penetration Test, Field Vane Test, Flat Dilatometer Test, Pressuremeter Test, Permeability Test, Plate Loading Test);
•    Evaluation of the pore pressure: piezometers and piezometric cells;
•    Laboratory testing: execution and result interpretation (triaxial test, oedometer test);
•    Application of geophysical methods to geotechnical engineering: seismic and electrical methods;
•    The italian technical regulation Normativa Tecnica per le Costruzioni 2008: application to geotechnical structures;
•    Ultimate and Serveicebility Limit State design of shallow and deep foundations, retaining structures and earth structures.

- Continuum mechnics and soil mechanics;

- Basics of geotechnical engineering;

- Basics of structural engineering;

- Basics of engineering geology.

Assessment will include an oral exam and written take-home assignments. The former will aim to assess fundamental knowledge, whereas the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to practice will be evaluated through the latter. Homeworks will include the determination of the geotechnical model and the identification of soil parameters starting from real case scenarios and the design of standard geostructures.