civil engineering
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Geotechnical Laboratory Testing
Almost all civil engineering projects are built in, on or under the ground, making it a major structural element of most structures. Like all other structural elements knowledge of the mechanical properties of soil is essential to the safe and successful completion of a project. Unfortunately for geotechnical engineers unlike most other construction materials the testing of soil is extremely difficult and complicated due to the highly variable nature of geological materials.
For most other elements of a building or structure, the size, loading and shape amongst other things is either predetermined or calculated. The engineer has a clear understanding of what they are. Safety factors are then added as a guarantee and allowances are made for external forces such as wind and snow loading.
Soil analysis is made difficult because it is not possible to clearly define the size and shape of the boundaries under the ground. It isn't possible to know what exactly is under the ground, and varying material types within the ground may produces different stresses and strains within the soil. Discontinuities in a soil are a shear surface. This obviously reduces the shear strength of the soil, this plays a dominant role in the performance of the soil...