Course Syllabus

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Instructor

Dr. Amy Cerato Professor Rapp Foundation Presidential Professor, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science Areas of Interests and Expertise Geotechnical Engineering Foundation Engineering Research Interests Expansive Soil Behavior Soil Stabilization Dynamic Response of Helical Piles Phone: 405-325-5625 Email: acerato@ou.edu Website: http://cerato.ou.edu/ Live Session (Zoom link): https://zoom.us/j/3339813946

 

Course Materials

Text:

Lambe, T.W. and Whitman, R.V. (1969). Soil Mechanics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. Call number: TA 710 .L245. (Available on reserve at the Bizzell Memorial Library).

Reference Texts:

Holtz, R., Kovacs, W., and Sheahan, T.C. (2011). An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering, 2^nd Edition.  Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey. Call number: TA 710 .H564 2011. (Three copies are available on reserve at the Bizzell Memorial Library).

Mitchell, J.K. (1993 and 2005), Fundamentals of Soil Behavior, 2^nd and 3^rd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York. Call number: TA 710 .M577. (One copy of each book is available at the Bizzell Memorial Library). 3^rd edition also available online through the OU Catalog at https://bit.ly/2VxihKD

Terzaghi, K., Peck, R.B., and Mesri, G. (1996). Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice. 3^rd Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. Call number: TA 710 .T39. (Available online through OU Catalog https://bit.ly/2Hi16CQ and on reserve at the Bizzell Memorial Library).

Budhu, M. (2011). Soil Mechanics and Foundations, 3^rd Edition. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. (Available on reserve at the Bizzell Memorial Library and online through OU Catalog at https://bit.ly/2JfUCYK ).

Das, B.M. (2014). Advanced Soil Mechanics, 4th Ed. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., Philadelphia. Call number: TA 710 .D257 2014 (Available on reserve at the Bizzell Memorial Library).

Course Outline and Reading List:

1. Introduction

• Preview of Soil Behavior
• Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of Lambe and Whitman

2. The Nature of Soil

• Assemblage of Particles
• Soil Classification
• Soil Mineralogy
• Clay-Water Forces
• Soil Structure
• Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Lambe and Whitman
• Chapter 4 of Holtz and Kovacs

3. Soil Stresses

• Geostatic Stresses
• Principal Stresses and Mohr Circle
• Stress Paths
• Measurement of Stress-Strain Properties
• Effective Stress Concept
• Chapters 8, 9 and 16 of Lambe and Whitman

4. Consolidation Behavior of Saturated Soils

• K₀ Consolidation
• Interpretation of Oedometer Results
• Rate of Consolidation
• Secondary Compression
• Estimation of Settlement in Practice
• Hydraulic Conductivity
• Lambe and Whitman: Sections 10.1 to 10.3, 12.1 and 12.2 20.2, 22.1,26.1 and 26.2, 27.1 to 27.4, 28.1, 17.1 to 17.7 and 19.1 to 19.3
• Holtz and Kovacs: Sections 8.1-8.11, Chapter 9

5. Drained Shear Behavior of Cohesionless Soils

• Stress-Strain Behavior
• Shear Strength (Mohr-Coulomb failure Criteria)
• Factors Influencing Strength
• Stress-Strain Relationships
• Lambe and Whitman: Sections 10.4 to 10.6, Chapter 11, 12.3 to 12.5

6. Drained Shear Behavior of Cohesive Soils

• Stress-Strain Behavior
• Drained Shear Strength
• Lambe and Whitman: Sections 20.3 to 20.5, 21.1, 21.2, and 21.6, 22.2 to 22.4
• Holtz and Kovacs: Sections 11.1 to 11.6

7. Undrained Shear Behavior of Cohesive Soils

• Pore pressures Induced by loading
• Stress-Strain Behavior
• Undrained Shear Strength
• Lambe and Whitman: Sections 26.3 to 26.7, 28.1 to 28.5, 28.7 and 28.8
• Holtz and Kovacs: Section 11.9 (Also covers part of Topic 8)

8. Determination of Strength Parameters in Practice

• Types of Stability Analysis
• Factors Influencing Undrained Shear Strength
• Methods of Obtaining Shear Strength Parameters
• Effective Stress Strength Parameters
• Lambe and Whitman: Section 31.4 

Course Grading

1. Assignments (~10)	10%
2. Two 1.25 hour term exams	50%
3. Final 2 hour exam	35%
4. Participation/Quizzes	5%

All homework assignments are to be turned in prior to the due date and time. No late assignments will be accepted.

Course Expectations

Participation: Students are expected to complete the assigned reading and participate in class by being actively engaged in discussions and attending the live Q&A sessions each week.

Quizzes: Each module, there will be a short graded quiz.

Discussion Boards: There will be a discussion board in each module. You may use the discussion board to ask questions over module material. It is expected that you have completed the module reading assignment and watched all lecture materials before asking questions in the discussion board. You may also utilize the discussion board for homework assistance from your classmates. However, sharing answers is not permitted. 

Assignments: All assignments are to be prepared neatly and professionally. Calculations should be performed on engineering paper and a straight edge and/or French curve should be used where appropriate. Collaboration among students is encouraged; however, assignments should represent individual work. You will scan and upload your PDF assignment and submit for grading. 

Exams: Exams will be open for a specified time and will have a time limit. You will access the exam document, calculate your answers on a separate sheet of paper, scan as PDF and upload for grading.  

Live Sessions

Each week we will have a Live Session via Zoom. Live Sessions will be held every Wednesday. The time of the Live Session depends on which section of the course you are enrolled in. See below for your Live Session time. This will give us an opportunity to interact face-to-face in real time. You will enter the Live Session meeting by clicking on the Zoom icon in the Live Session page of each module. You are expected to have completed the reading and watched all lecture material before the Live Session. 

Section 997: Wednesdays 7:30-8:30pm CDT

Section 995 and 998: Wednesdays 8:45-9:45pm CDT

 

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

ACADEMIC POLICIES AND STUDENT SUPPORT

 

Catalog

Please familiarize yourself with the student catalog: http://catalog.ou.edu/courses/courses.htm

Online Library

Students in the MAcc program can use the University of Oklahoma library by visiting: 

http://libraries.ou.edu/

Academic Misconduct

In addition to the course conduct policies outlined by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook. 

It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies and procedures concerning academic misconduct.  The Student Code is available from the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and is contained in the Student’s Guide to Academic Integrity, available at http://integrity.ou.edu/students_guide.html. This site also defines misconduct, provides examples of prohibited conduct, and explains the sanctions available for those found guilty of misconduct.

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is basically no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism. 

Go to http://integrity.ou.edu/students_guide.html to learn more about the rules for avoiding plagiarism. Test your skills in avoiding plagiarism by taking the library’s plagiarism tutorial, available at https://libraries.ou.edu/content/academic-integrity-tutorial.

Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities
The University of Oklahoma is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for all students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who require accommodations in this course should contact their professor as early in the semester as possible.

Students with disabilities must be registered with the Disability Resource Center prior to receiving accommodations in this course.

If you have a disability and you would like to make a request for reasonable accommodation, please see the Graduate Student Handbook or visit the Disability Resource Center and other disability services at OU at http://drc.ou.edu/.

Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Please see http://www.ou.edu/eoo/faqs/pregnancy-faqs for commonly asked questions.  

Title IX Resources  

For any concerns regarding gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, stalking, or intimate partner violence, the University offers a variety of resources, including advocates on-call 24.7, counseling services, mutual no contact orders, scheduling adjustments and disciplinary sanctions against the perpetrator. Please contact the Sexual Misconduct Office 405-325-2215 (8-5, M-F) or OU Advocates 405-615-0013 (24.7) to learn more or to report an incident. 

Religious Holidays

It is the policy of the University to excuse absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide for the rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays without penalty. It is the responsibility of the student to make alternate arrangements with the instructor at least one week prior to the actual date of the religious holiday.

Copyright Policy

It is illegal to download, upload, reproduce, or distribute any copyrighted material, in any form and in any fashion, without permission from the copyright holder or his/her authorized agent. The University of Oklahoma expects all members of its community to comply fully with federal copyright laws. If such laws appear to have been violated by any user, the university reserves the right (1) to terminate that user’s access to some or all of the university’s computer systems and information resources and (2) to take additional disciplinary actions as deemed necessary or appropriate. Repeat offenders will be sanctioned and their privileges terminated.

Registration and Withdrawal

If you choose to withdraw from this course, you must complete the appropriate University form and turn the form in before the deadline. If you stop attending the course and doing the course work without doing the required paperwork your grade will be calculated with missed homework and examination grades entered as zero. This could result in receiving a grade of 'F' in the course. Deadlines are shown in the Academic Calendar, which is available from the Office of Admissions and Records or online at http://www.ou.edu/admissions/home/academic_calendar.html.

Student Grievances

In addition to any policies outlined related to submitting an informal or formal grievance by your professor in the Course Syllabus in the online classroom, please review the Graduate Student Handbook for more information about the process of submitting a formal grievance.