UNIT 1:
Basic Definitions & Index Properties: Definition and scope of soil mechanics, Historical development. Formation of soils. Soil composition. Minerals, Influence of clay minerals on engineering behaviour. Soil structure. Three phase system. Index properties and their determination. Consistency limits. Classification systems based on particle size and consistency limits.

UNIT 2:
Soil Water and Consolidation: Soil water, Permaeability Determination of permeability in laboratory and in field. Seepage and seepage pressure. Flownets, uses of a flownet, Effective, neutral and total stresses. Compressibility and consolidation, Relationship between pressure and void ratio, Theory of one dimensional consolidation. Consolidation test, Fitting Time curves. Normally and over consolidated clays. Determination of preconsolidation pressure, settlement analysis. Calculation of total settlement.

UNIT 3:
Stress Distribution in Soils and Shear Strength of Soils: Stress distribution beneath loaded areas by Boussinesq and water gaurd’s analysis. Newmark’s influence chart. Contact pressure distribution. Mohr - Coulomb’s theory of shear failure of soils, Mohr’s stress circle, Measurement of shear strength, Shear box test, Triaxial compression test, unconfined compression test, Value shear test, Measurement of pore pressure, pore pressure parameters, critical void ratio, Liquefaction.

UNIT 4:
Stability of Slopes: Infinite and finite slopes. Types of slope failures, Rotational slips. Stability number. Effect of ground water. Selection of shear strength parameters in slope stability analysis. Analytical and graphical methods of stability analysis. Stability of Earth dams.

UNIT 5:
Lateral Earth Pressure: Active, passive and earth pressure at rest. Rankine, Coulomb, Terzaghi and Culmann’s theories. Analytical and graphical methods of determination of earth pressures on cosion-less and cohesive soils. Effect of surcharge, water table and wallfriction. Arching in soils. Reinforced earth retaining walls.