COURSE - Failure and Instability in Geomaterials and Geosystems


This 3-day course introduces, at the post-graduate level, the basic principles of material stability analysis, with specific reference to geomaterials such as soil and rock. First, an introduction to the definition and use of different metrics of material instability is given, including second-order work and controllability indices. Analytical techniques to differentiate localized and diffuse failure are then discussed, along with an examination of the implications of shear banding for the numerical analysis of geotechnical problems and examples of possible computational remedies. Afterwards, diffuse instabilities of the liquefaction type and the role of the pore fluids on their initiation are addressed, stressing the role of transitions from unsaturated to saturated conditions. Finally, the relevance of geomaterial instability in the context of landslide geomechanics is addressed. Examples of application spanning from rapid shallow landslides of the flow type to deep-seated creeping landslides are shown, with the goal to highlight the feedback between material instability, inelastic deformation, and the temporal dynamics of landslide motion.

June 10, 2024, 3:00pm-7:00pm, June 11 and 12, 2024, 10:00am-2:00pm

The course will take place in blended mode ALTHOUGH IS RECOMMENDED THE PRESENCE IN THE CLASSROOM: in presence at the Aula Caveau - DISG, Faculty of Engineering, via Eudossiana 18, Rome and online via Zoom.
For the courses supplied by the PhD Program of the DISG credits are not provided: A certificate of attendance will be produced upon request (only after a check of the effective presence)

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