APPLIED GEOLOGY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MONICA GHIROTTI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- GEO/05
Training objectives
- The main goal of the course consists in providing the basis of Soil Mechanics for geological-technical issues and in situ investigations. The course provides basic information about mechanical properties of soils and about in situ testing.
The main acquired knowledge will be:
basic information about properties and behavior of soils in order to solve simple geological-technical issues;
basic information of in situ testing for geotechnical investigations; monitoring systems;
engineering geological surveys, processing and management of data.
The basic acquired abilities (that are the capacity of applying the acquired knowledge) will be:
classification of soils, correct definition of physical and mechanical properties of soils;
analysis of stresses under geostatic conditions, deformability, graphical solution for stress distribution in soil media and site investigation;
discussion on stresses induced by 1D groundwater flow in soil columns;
definition and description of mechanical soil properties;
interpretation of experimental results from laboratory tests;
computation of settlements for soil columns;
planning of an in situ testing campaign for geological-technical issues. Prerequisites
- Previous knowledge from: Mathematics, Physics I and II, Geomorphology, Geology I.
Course programme
- The course forecasts 60 hours of teaching divided in frontal lectures and guided tutorial.
INTRODUCTION: 2 h lectures
Engineering geology in mitigating geological risks, in planning land use, in planning works, buildings and infrastructures.
TECHNICAL CHARACTERS AND PROPERTIES OF SOILS: 10 h lectures + 10 h labs
Index properties and parameters. Classifications of soils.Clays in mineralogy and engineering geology. Settlements: Oedometer test, yield stress, settlement of soil columns. Friction and shear strenght: basic concepts, moduli and deformability of soils, stress-strain behaviour for elasto- plastic conditions, direct shear test, triaxial tests (CDI), experimental plots; residual strength.
STRESS IN SOILS: 6 h lectures + 10 h labs
Basic concepts about state of stress and deformation. Geostatic stress.
SITE INVESTIGATIONS: 6 h lectures and 4 lab.
Basic principles. In situ tests: STP, CPT, CPTU, DP. Planning of an in situ testing campaign for geological-technical issues.
Introduction to the main application and solution of engineering-geology problems (12 h lab) Didactic methods
- The course is organized as follow:
frontal lectures on all the course’s topics;
numerical exercises on some the course topics. Learning assessment procedures
- The aim of the exam is to verify at which level the learning objectives previously described have been acquired. The examination is divided in 2 sections: written and oral.
Written test: solutions of numeric exercises based on all the topics tackled in the class. The test has the aim of evaluating how deeply the student has studied the subject and how he is able to understand the basic topics analyzed. This section is selective (the student that does not show a sufficient knowledge of the subject, cannot be admitted to the oral section.) To pass this test it is required to get at least 18 points out of 30. The time allowed for this test is 3 hours. It is not allowed consulting any textbook or using any PC, smart phone. It is allowed to use the calculator.
An oral section, where the ability of linking different subjects related to all the topics of the course is evaluated, such as to plan an in situ and lab investigation for a geological-technical issue, rather than the ability of “repeating” specific topics tackled in the course. To pass this test it is required to get at least 18 points out of 30.
The final mark is the sum of the 2 marks.
To pass the exam it is necessary to get at least 18 points out of 30.
If the written test is not passed or if the final mark is below 18, it is necessary to repeat all the exam’s sections. Reference texts
- Teacher’s handouts on-line.
Specific topics can be further developed in the following texts:
L. González de Vallejo, Geoingegneria, Pearson Ed., 2005, 717 pp.
P. Colombo, F. Colleselli, Elementi di Geotecnica, Zanichelli,2004, 465 pp.
