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Engineering Online
Engineering Online

CE 741 Geomechanics of Stress Deformation

3 Credit Hours

Concepts of effective stress, volume change and stress-strain behavior of clays and sands, stress path and variation in failure conditions; mechanistic interaction between solids and water, problems in elasticity and plasticity pertaining to stress distribution, time- dependent, consolidation and secondary settlements, and tolerance limits to deformation levels.

Prerequisite

CE 342 “Engineering Behavior of Soils and Foundations” and CE 548 “Engineering Properties of Soils” or equivalent.

Course Objectives

CE 741 is a graduate-level course focused on the theoretical and applied aspects of stress and deformation in soil systems. The primary objective is to provide a rigorous foundation in the principles of mechanics of stress and deformation, with emphasis on the behavior of soils as a continuum under various loading conditions. Topics integrate classical theory with contemporary challenges in geomechanics and earthwork engineering. Students will gain proficiency in the following areas:

  • Fundamental Concepts of Effective Stress and their implications for soil behavior
  • Stress Distribution in Continuous Media, including consideration of material heterogeneity
  • Elastic Displacement Theories applicable to geotechnical systems
  • Deformation Analysis of Non-Homogeneous Media, with practical and theoretical perspectives
  • Time-Dependent Settlement and Creep, including primary and secondary consolidation effects
  • This course is designed to prepare students for advanced professional practice or research in geotechnical
  • engineering, emphasizing a mechanics-based approach to complex soil-structure interaction problems.

Course Requirements

Mid Term Exam35%
Final Exam40%
Home Work10%
Paper Review and presentation05%
Class Project10%

Textbooks

CE 741 Lecture Notes, These will be available on line for download.

Other texts that might be helpful to consult are:

  1. T. W. Lambe and R. V. Whitman (1969) Soil Mechanics, John Wiley &Sons, New York.
  2. Young and B. P. Warkentin (1966) Introduction to Soil Behavior, Macmillan, New York.
  3. R. D. Holtz,and W. D. Kovacs An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Software Requirements

Knowledge of Excel, MathCad, or other computing software. All assignments must be submitted electronically. All online students must have access to a computer with a high-speed internet connection.

Updated: 4/10/2025