LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course is a key course for a modern geotechnical engineer and one necessary to take if your MSc thesis is going to involve any numerical calculations. The course additionally offers several extra assignments that can be taken during the course and counted through the special assignment course for extra credits. The course grade and special assignment grade will be the same.
After the course you should:
1. Be able to evaluate solutions to typical engineering problems with finite element software, suggest solution methods and constitutive models to be used for such problems and solve them.
In particular you should be able to choose the right constitutive model for a given problem and use the right parameters for the model based on the results of soil tests, as well as analyse the results and assess their correctness
2. Be familiar with the finite element method theory and derivation. You should have some understanding of how the finite element software works and how adjusting the parameters in the software may affect the solution, convergence and accuracy
3. Know and be able to evaluate the approximations typically used in finite element software, as well as typical implementations of hydro-mechanical coupling
4. Be able to assess the accuracy of the FE solutions and relate it to the errors due to finite element method approximation, as well as modelling simplifications.
5. Know the typical enhancements of constitutive models used in finite element software and be able to apply them in practical cases. You should be familiar with some software specific constitutive models.
6. Be able to make independent modelling choices in finite element modelling and explain the benefits and drawbacks of the taken course of action
7. Be able to able to self-learn finite element software
8. Be able to clearly communicate the outcomes of the analysis, write a report and defend the modelling choices made.
Credits: 5
Schedule: 14.04.2025 - 28.05.2025
Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):
Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Wojciech Solowski
Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):
CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):
Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):
Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English
CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD
Content
valid for whole curriculum period:
The course will concentrate on the application of Finite Element Method in geoengineering. In particular, the course participants will gain an understanding of how the commonly used geotechnical Finite Element Software works and how the analyses should be made.
The typical enhancements of constitutive models present in commonly used engineering software will be described in detail.
The course participants will solve several engineering problems with the Finite Element Software Method and Geocalc. The comparison of the obtained results between the two methods of calculations gives an additional working understanding of approximations and the accuracy of the performed calculations
Sustainability goals: the course prepares the students to use lean design in their engineering practice, minimising the amount of materials needed for construction safe structures. The course also prepares the students to use new materials in their simulations, including choice of the material model, model parameters and designing the simulation. This is a key skill as the materials may dramatically change in the coming decades due to the carbon neutrality goal.
Assessment Methods and Criteria
valid for whole curriculum period:
The final assessment criteria will be agreed upon during first lecture of the course. The suggestion is:
Lectures (tests during the lectures): 30%
Homeworks: 30%
Final Project: 40%
No final exam.
Each part must be passed. The evaluation methods and percentages may be changed in agreement with the students during the course.
Note that the final project may be additionally presented to some delegates from major construction companies operating in Finland which will provide opportunity for exchange of ideas and networking. Should such a special session be organised, the participation is highly recommended (at least for the Aalto students). This session usually takes place after formal endo of the course, typically in the first week of June
Workload
valid for whole curriculum period:
5cr, 135h
Lectures (53 h)
Lectures: 10 x 2 h = 20 h
Preparation for the lectures: 6x2h - 12h
Preparation for the tests: 3 x 7h - 18h
Exercises (39h):
Exercises: 9 x 2 h = 18 h
Finishing exercises: 6 x 1h = 6 h
Homeworks 3 x 5h = 15h
Final project (43h):
Exercises: 3 x 2h = 6h
Final Project, self work 3 x 9h= 27h (2 x 9 before exercises, 1x9 after the third exercise).
Preparation of a poster: 8h
Attending final presentation: 2h
DETAILS
Study Material
valid for whole curriculum period:
Lecture notes, lecture slides and some auxiliary materials will be provided during the course, as well as further reading suggestions.
The course will somewhat rely on the David M. Potts, Lidija Zdravkovi , Finite Element Analysis in Geotechnical Engineering. Vol. 1-Theory. as well as Finite Element Analysis in Geotechnical Engineering. Vol. 2-Application. books (published by Thomas Telford).
Substitutes for Courses
valid for whole curriculum period:
Prerequisites
valid for whole curriculum period:
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals
9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
12 Responsible Production and Consumption
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further Information
valid for whole curriculum period:
Teaching Language: English
Teaching Period: 2024-2025 Spring V
2025-2026 Spring VRegistration:
Registration for the course will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi).