Géotechnique Lecture 2015: A Particulate Perspective on Soil Mechanics, London

Overview

The challenges associated with predicting soil response to loads and deformations arise in part from the particulate nature of the material.

Discrete element method (DEM) simulations and high resolution micro-computed tomography (microCT) now allow geotechnical engineers to study the particle-scale mechanics that underlie the complexity of soil response.

This lecture will give an overview of recent research that has used DEM and microCT to revisit important contributions to soil mechanics that were published in Géotechnique over the past 30 years.

The specific topics to be considered in the lecture will include:

• The internal instability of dams and embankments subjected to seepage loading 
• The strength and stiffness of the locked sand deposits in South-East England
• The use of the critical state soil mechanics framework and the state parameter to describe and predict sand behaviour

In each case the lecture will show how applying a particle scale perspective has improved understanding in a way that will benefit both geotechnical research and practice.