2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate major in Civil Engineering
Mechanics of Geomaterials
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Civil Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Mai Sawada
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Tue / 3-4 Fri
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- CVE.C401
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Soil above the groundwater level consists of soil particles, water and air, and its engineering properties vary depending on the component ratios. Unsaturated soil mechanics is necessary for geo-disaster prevention and geo-environmental preservation. This course will deal with the theories about water retention, seepage, thermal properties, strength and stability of partially saturated soil.
Course description and aims
You will be able to explain:
– Differences between saturated and unsaturated soils from an engineering perspective
– Theories about the above items
Keywords
partially saturated soil, water retention, seepage, thermal properties, slope stability
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Attendance will be checked in each module. We will have group work and presentations as well as lectures.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Various issues in the vadose zone | Slope disaster, Expansive soil, Soil contamination |
| Class 2 | Porewater pressure of partially saturated soil | Surface tension, Capillary force, Suction |
| Class 3 | Soil water retention | Water retention curve, Hysteresis |
| Class 4 | Hydraulic property evaluation | Water retention test, Coefficient of permeability of partially saturated soil |
| Class 5 | Unsaturated seepage flow | Richards equation, Water retention curve models |
| Class 6 | Group work 1 | Literature review and discussion |
| Class 7 | Application to geo-environmental issues | Capillary barrier, Waste disposal |
| Class 8 | Presentation 1 | Report of Group work 1 |
| Class 9 | Thermal properties | The degree of saturation-dependent thermal properties, heat transfer |
| Class 10 | Shear strength of partially saturated soil | Apparent cohesion, Triaxial test on partially saturated soil |
| Class 11 | Slope stability during rainfall | Slope seepage-stability analysis |
| Class 12 | Group work 2 | Literature review and discussion |
| Class 13 | Effective stresses of partially saturated soil | Bishop’s effective stress |
| Class 14 | Presentation 2 | Report of Group work 2 |
Study advice (preparation and review)
Make sure to review each module.
Textbook(s)
Handouts and related materials will be provided via T2SCHOLA
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Fredlund, D. G., & Rahardjo, H. (1993). Soil mechanics for unsaturated soils. John Wiley & Sons.
Jury, W. A., & Horton, R. (2004). Soil physics. John Wiley & Sons.
地盤工学会不飽和地盤の挙動と評価編集委員会 (2005). 不飽和地盤の挙動と評価, 丸善出版 [in Japanese]
Evaluation methods and criteria
Attendance（20%）, Reports（40%），Presentations（40%）
Related courses
- CVE.C201 ： Soil Mechanics I
- CVE.C402 ： Stability Problems in Geotechnical Engineering
- CVE.C202 ： Soil Mechanics II
- CVE.C311 ： Geotechnical Engineering in Practice
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are necessary, but enrollment in the related courses is desirable.
Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).
Mai Sawada（sawada.m.af[at]m.titech.ac.jp, 2798)