Soil mechanics is a core professional basic course, which is a compulsory course for undergraduates majoring in civil engineering, and is also a professional basic course for many disciplines closely related to infrastructure construction, such as traffic engineering, water conservancy engineering, mining engineering, marine engineering, etc. The online course of soil mechanics is clear, illustrated and practical. Each chapter is designed with guideline and summary, so that students can fully understand the learning ideas, key points and difficulties of this chapter. Each chapter is attached with Chinese and English professional vocabulary, so as to promote students to review and consolidate their knowledge they have learned. There are various test questions to enable students to achieve the combination of learning and practice. It is equipped with the English textbook of soil mechanics edited by Professor Liao Hongjian and published by Xi'an Jiaotong University Press.

According to the training requirements of civil engineering specialty, this course not only pays attention to the systematic study of the basic theory and knowledge of the subject, but also pays focus on keeping pace with the times to cultivate the comprehensive ability of students to solve complex engineering problems. The characteristics of the course are:

1) Soil mechanics is a branch of Engineering Mechanics and an applied basic discipline, which uses mechanics and geotechnical test technology to study the engineering properties of soil, as well as the stress, strain, strength and stability of soil under the action of load, water and temperature.

2) Soil mechanics is an important professional basic course of civil engineering, construction, transportation, water conservancy, mining and geological engineering, which has a wide audience and plays an important role in the study of students and the reference of social professional engineers.

3) Soil mechanics is a very practical engineering technology science, which is closely related to human activities. In engineering construction, the theory and method of soil mechanics should be applied to solve the problems of building ground, embankment, tunnel, subway and slope stability.

There are totally 8 chapters in this course, including: basic characteristics and engineering classification of soils, permeability of soil and seepage force, stress distribution in soil, compression and consolidation of soil, shear strength, bearing capacity, stability of slopes and lateral earth pressure and retaining walls. Also included are a guideline at the beginning of each chapter and an English-Chinese translation of frequently-used words and expressions in soil mechanics were provided at the end of each chapter, which may facilitate the students in studying this course. Exercises are provided at the end of each chapter and references and acknowledgements are given in the attachment at the end of each chapter.

Soil mechanics is a professional basic course that uses mechanics and geotechnical testing techniques to study the engineering properties of soil.

Higher Mathematics、Engineering Geology、Material Mechanics

Textbook and References 

1. Hongjian Liao, Lijun Su, Hangzhou Li (2015).Soil Mechanics[M]. Xi'an Jiaotong University Press, Xian.

2. Hongjian Liao, Rongjian Li, Enlong Liu (2018). Soil Mechanics (The Third Edition) [M]. Higher Education Press, Beijing.

3. R.F.Craig (1998). Soil Mechanics [M]. E and FN Spon, London and New York

4. John Atkinson (1993). An Introduction to the Mechanics of Soils and Foundations [M]. McGraw-Hill, England.

5. Karl Terzaghi (1943). Theoretical Soil Mechanics [M]. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

6. T.William Lambe and Robert V.Whitman (1969). Soil Mechanics [M]. John Wiley and Sons, New York.

7. Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction of the People's Republic of China (2012), GB50007-2011《Code for Design of Building Foundation》[S], China Building Industry Press, Beijing.