Rock and Soil Mechanics (Developments in Geotechnical Engineering)

Although theoretical in character, this book provides a useful source of information for those dealing with practical problems relating to rock and soil mechanics - a discipline which, in the view of the authors, attempts to apply the theory of continuum to the mechanical investigation of rock and soil media. The book is in two separate parts. The first part, embodying the first three chapters, is devoted to a description of the media of interest. Chapter 1 introduces the main argument and discusses the essence of the discipline and its links with other branches of science which are concerned, on the one hand, with technical mechanics and, on the other, with the properties, origins, and formation of rock and soil strata under natural field conditions. Chapter 2 describes mechanical models of bodies useful for the purpose of the discourse and defines the concept of the limit shear resistance of soils and rocks. Chapter 3 gives the actual properties of soils and rocks determined from experiments in laboratories and in situ.