Critical State Soil Mechanics

Soils can rarely be described as ideally elastic or perfectly plastic and yet simple elastic and plastic models form the basis for the most traditional geotechnical engineering calculations. With the advent of cheap powerful computers the possibility of performing analyses based on more realistic models has become widely available. One of the aims of this book is to describe the basic ingredients of a family of simple elastic-plastic models of soil behaviour and to demonstrate how such models can be used in numerical analyses. Such numerical analyses are often regarded as mysterious black boxes but a proper appreciation of their worth requires an understanding of the numerical models on which they are based. Though the models on which this book concentrates are simple, understanding of these will indicate the ways in which more sophisticated models will perform.

This work reviews soil mechanics in the light of critical state soil mechanics. A number of exercises are provided, and a microcomputer program, "Cris", used for simulation of the behaviour of soil samples subjected to triaxial tests through the critical state models, accompanies the text.

Soil liquefaction is a major concern in areas of the world subject to seismic activity or other repeated vibration loads. This book brings together a large body of information on the topic, and presents it within a unified and simple framework. The result is a book which will provide the practising civil engineer with a very sound understanding of

This work reviews soil mechanics in the light of critical state soil mechanics. A number of exercises are provided, and a microcomputer program, "Cris", used for simulation of the behaviour of soil samples subjected to triaxial tests through the critical state models, accompanies the text.

"This introductory course on soil mechanics presents the key concepts of stress, stiffness, seepage, consolidation, and strength within a one-dimensional framework. Consideration of the mechanical behaviour of soils requires us to consider density alongside stresses, thus permitting the unification of deformation and strength characteristics. Soils are described in a way which can be integrated with concurrent teaching of the properties of other engineering materials. The book includes a model of the shearing of soil and some examples of soil-structure interaction which are capable of theoretical analysis using one-dimensional governing equations. The text contains many worked examples, and exercises are given for private study at the end of all chapters. Some suggestions for laboratory demonstrations that could accompany such an introductory course are sprinkled through the book." --Book Jacket.