Moving on from soft soil modelling to engineering application

Prof. Minna Karstunen

Soft soil engineering is still a challenge, in particular when we increasingly need to construct on densely populated urban areas next to existing structures, and have to consider the effects of climate change. The presentation starts by looking at the usability of the soil models available in geotechnical finite element codes for soft soil applications. Various models are benchmarked against both real soil data, and simple boundary value problems, together with the Creep-SCLAY1S model. Creep-SCLAY1S is a rate-dependent constitutive model for soft natural clays, resulting from the systematic research by the author and her co-workers in the last 20 years geared for Scandinavian soft soil conditions. Some recent examples of engineering applications where the model has been successfully used are highlighted, including embankments and deep excavations. Finally, some of the remaining challenges are discussed.

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.