Soil Mechanics

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.

This book teaches the principles of soil mechanics to undergraduates, along with other properties of engineering materials.

David Muir Wood has taught soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering courses at the universities of Cambridge, Glasgow, and Bristol for 33 years. He is the author of more than 100 research publications, two books - Soil Behavior and Critical State Soil Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, 1990) and Geotechnical Modelling (2004) - and numerous book chapters. He was co-chairman of the Geotechnical computer-aided learning project.