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Damilola Akinniyi

DAMILOLA AKINNIYI

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DAMILOLA AKINNIYI

Unsaturated Soil Mechanics · Course 1 of 4

Recognising Unsaturated Soil Problems

Learn when the water held in soil above the water table matters, what suction is and how to calculate it, and how a change in weather becomes an engineering problem. You will finish able to explain a problem through a clear chain of evidence, without claiming more than the evidence shows.

3 lessonsAbout 4 hoursIntroductoryAssessment with optional marking
Start Lesson 1

What you will be able to do

By the end of Course 1

  1. Recognise site situations where unsaturated soil behaviour may control performance, including where saturated assumptions are over-conservative and where they miss the problem.
  2. Describe soil as solids, water, air and the air-water interface, and place the unsaturated and capillary zones on a ground profile.
  3. Calculate matric suction from pore pressures and from simple capillary and hydrostatic models, and explain why suction is positive.
  4. Explain why suction gives only apparent cohesion, and why it changes with wetting and drying.
  5. Build a traceable chain from weather to water state to engineering response, and recommend a proportionate next step.

The lessons

Three lessons, about four pages each

  • 1
    When does unsaturated soil matter?Beyond the saturated assumption · four phases · where it shows up
    Start →
  • 2
    Reading the water stateGround profile · matric suction · apparent vs true cohesion
    Open →
  • 3
    From weather to engineering problemThe evidence chain · guided case · Course 1 assessment
    Open →

Each lesson ends with practice questions and a quick check. The last lesson ends with the Course 1 assessment. You can mark yourself against the model answers, or send it to me for personal marking and written feedback.

Before you start

Who it is for

Research students, graduates, designers, contractors and laboratory staff. A basic understanding of soil mechanics helps, but every idea is built up from the start.

What you need

A calculator, a notebook, and about four hours in total. You can stop at any page and return later on the same device.

← Back to Unsaturated Soil Mechanics

This pathway reflects my own research, teaching and general practice. It is independent of any employer or client, and all examples are fictional.