Lecture
Selected Topic in Soil Mechanics
Ausgewählte Themen der Bodenmechanik
Status: 10.02.2026
Lecturer
Language
German
Participants
- Students of master's degree program Civil Engineering, 2. term (summer term), mandatory module “Soil Mechanics and Soil Dynamics” for students with specialization in Geotechnical Engineering; compulsory elective course for students with specialization in Structural Engineering, Modelling and Simulation, Port Construction and Coastal Protection
- Requirements: Successful participation in the module “Soil Mechanics” in the Bachelor's degree program “Civil and Environmental Engineering”, participation in the parallel course “Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering” in the master's degree program “Civil Engineering”
Location and space of courses
- Summer term 2026: SD22, seminar room 1.028, Monday 11:30-13:00, start at 13.04.2026 (bus line 42, exit Theodor-Yorck-Straße)
Learning objectives
- In-depth study of selected topics in soil mechanics in preparation for project work and Master's theses
- Learning various modelling concepts of soil mechanics and evaluating their significance for construction practice
Contents
Current lecture content in summer term 2026:
- Constitutive modelling and constitutive models for soils:
- Analysis of soil mechanics laboratory tests
- Assessment of test results from mathematical and soil mechanics points of view
- Development of simple material models (constitutive modelling)
- Calibration of material parameters
- Calculations using material equations
- Work with 3D material models for general stress states and deformation states
- All of this with regard to the parallel course “Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering”
Former lecture contents:
- Pore fluid flow in soils: experiment, hydraulic models for saturated, dry, and unsaturated soils
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Limit and safety analyses: Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM), collapse theories of plasticity theory including lower bound analysis (characteristics method) and upper bound analysis (Kinematic Element Method, Discontinuous Layout Optimization, and numerical methods like Finite Element Method (FEA), Shear Reduction Finite Element Analysis (SRFEA) and Finite Element Limit Analysis (FELA)
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Continuum mechanics: Volume fraction concept, generalized principle of effective stress, material independent equations (kinematical equations and balance equations for soil constituents and soil mixture), constitutive equations, initial boundary value problems and boundary value problems
- Heat transfer in soils: heat conduction, convective heat transport, phase change during soil freezing/thawing, thermal properties of soil constituents and soil mixture, heat transfer analysis (heat transfer equation, initial conditions, boundary conditions)
Digital offers
- Teaching material (lecture and exercise notes) is available via Stud.IP during the course
Examination
- Exam material: Will be communicated during the course
- Exam mode: Written exam as part of the module exam “Soil Mechanics and Soil Dynamics” in summer and winter terms (duration: 45 min; weighting according to the ECTS points; exam aids: lecture and exercise notes and non-programmable pocket calculator)