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Geotechnical Engineering and Geomechanics
The graduate program in geotechnical engineering leads to the degrees of master of science and doctor of philosophy. Students studying toward the M.S. degree can pursue a thesis or a course work option of 30 semester hours. The Ph.D. degree requires additional course work beyond M.S. degree as well as a dissertation.
Faculty
Bernard Amadei, Professor, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley. Rock mechanics, geological engineering, Earth Systems Engineering, Engineering for Developing Communities
Hon-Yim Ko, Professor, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology. Soil and rock mechanics, centrifugal modeling, earthquake engineering, constitutive relations, multiaxial testing.
John S. McCartney, Barry Faculty Fellow, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin. Geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering, hydraulic and mechanical properties of unsaturated soil-geosynthetic systems, dynamic properties of reinforced soils, centrifuge modeling, reliability-based design.
Ronald Y.S. Pak, Professor, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology. Soil dynamics, earthquake engineering, soil-structure interaction, wave propagation, continuum mechanics, impacts and vibrations, analytical and numerical methods, centrifuge modeling.
W. Tad Pfeffer, Professor, Ph.D. University of Washington. Dynamic glaciology; heat and mass transfer in snow, ice and porous media; mechanics and thermodynamics of continuous media; fluid dynamics; numerical and experimental methods.
Richard A. Regueiro, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Stanford University. Theoretical and computational solid mechanics as applied to geologic materials; discrete, length-scale dependent failure modeling; finite deformation inelasticity; generalized continua; mixture theory; finite element and meshless methods.
Stein Sture, Professor, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder. Soil and rock mechanics, constitutive relationships, numerical methods in geomechanics, dynamics, laboratory modeling.
Dobroslav Znidarcic, Professor, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder. Soil mechanics, earth structures, flow processes in soils, contaminant transport, unsaturated soil mechanics, centrifuge modeling, numerical modeling.
Areas of Study
Engineering Properties of Soils
Constitutive Modeling of Soils and Rocks
Groundwater and Seepage
Consolidation and Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
Soil Dynamics and Earthquake engineering
Environmental Geotechnics
Stability of Earth Structures
Rock/Soil Structure Interaction
Wave Propagation and Seismic Methods
Impacts and Vibrations
Liquefaction
Dynamic Glaciology
Soil and Rock Slope Stability
Contaminant Transport and Waste Containment Systems
Geosynthetics
Soil Reinforcement and Improvement
Centrifugal Modeling
Numerical Analysis by Finite Element, Boundary Element, and Meshless Methods
Systems Approach to Engineering Projects
Course Offerings
Graduate level courses in geotechnical engineering include:
CVEN 5708 Soil Mechanics
CVEN 5718 Mechanics and Dynamics of Glaciers
CVEN 5728 Foundation Engineering
CVEN 5738 Applied Geotechnical Analysis
CVEN 5748 Design of Earth Structures
CVEN 5758 Flow Processes in Soils
CVEN 5768 Introduction to Rock Mechanics
CVEN 5778 Advanced Rock Mechanics
CVEN 5788 Computational Mechanics for Geomaterials
CVEN 5798 Dynamics of Soils and Foundations
CVEN 7718 Engineering Properties of Soils
Complementary graduate courses include Finite Element Methods, Continuum Mechanics and Elasticity.
Undergraduate Course Prerequisites for Graduate Admission
Before taking graduate courses the following minimum undergraduate course requirements must be satisfied:
Mathematic and calculus courses through differential equations and linear algebra. Statics, mechanics of materials, fluid mechanics, geology, soil mechanics and foundation engineering.
Transfer Credits
For the Master of Science program the Department will accept up to 9 hours graduate credit from other institutions toward the minimum course requirements if not used toward another degree.
For the Doctoral program up to 15 semester hours of 5000 level or above course work may be transferred from another institution and applied towards the 30 hours minimum course work requirement. For a student who has obtained his/her M.S. degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder, up to 21 semester hours of 5000 level or above course work may be transferred.
Facilities
- The geotechnical engineering laboratories are well equipped for experimental research in soil and rock mechanics. In addition to equipment for routine laboratory testing, specialized equipment includes:
- A Genisco model 1230, 15 g-ton centrifuge adapted for geotechnical testing and a Wyle 400 g-ton centrifuge with earthquake and other static and dynamic simulation capabilities for advanced geotechnical modeling.
- An instructional centrifuge with digital image processing capabilities.
- Several universal testing machines for tension and compression testing of geological materials, including three load frames with capacities ranging from 110 to 1,000 kips.
- Multiaxial cubical apparatuses for three-dimensional compression and combined compression and tension experiments.
- Direct shear machines for static and dynamic behavior of rock joints.
- Permeability measuring systems.
- A series of consolidation devices, including incremental load, constant rate of deformation, and seepage induced consolidation devices.
- Unsaturated soil testing equipment
- The Bechtel computer laboratory, which contains state-of-the-art computer hardware and software.
- The M.Y. Leung Computational Laboratory for Soils and Structures, which contains high-performance workstations and software.
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