Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2024-25
Module Leader
Lecturer
Lecturer
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology and Water Resources (4L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Dr Borgomeo)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 3-8 (Prof D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Coursework
Labs on sediment motion will conducted in Inglis Building Structures Lab, which can be accessed through the big double doors on the Peterhouse roadway or through the corner of the Hydraulics Lab. Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) is activated at the start of Michaelmas. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Lab sessions will take place in the Structures Lab, Inglis Building Ground Floor, which is adjacent to the Robotics Lab.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodel page.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 31/05/2024 07:29
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2017-18
Module Leader
Lecturers
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Dr F. A. McRobie)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week,week 8 (Dr F. A. McRobie)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Coursework
Sign up sheets and handouts will be available on the Inglis Building Mezzanine Floor at the start of the Term.
Sediment transport
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Sessions will take place in Room ISG-86 (Inglis Building Ground Floor, Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction).
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.
Booklists
Please see the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references for this module.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 28/09/2017 13:10
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Hydraulics, 2025-26
Module Leader
Lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Introduce the basic topics in water resources, open channel flows and groundwater flows.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economic implications of water engineering and hydraulic engineering projects
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the water budget
- Promote nature-based and nature-friendly solutions to water-related problems
- Understand the soil properties and simple models of ground infiltration
- Determine the steady seepage patterns in the porous media
- Evaluate potentials, pore water pressures, and flow quantities in the ground by constructing flow nets
- Calculate the seepage below concrete dams and through embankment & earth dams
- Analyse topics on excavations and seepage, cofferdams and stability
- Draw parallels between groundwater flow and heat flow in porous media
- Understand river hydraulics
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
Content
Hydrology and Water Resources (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Dr Borgomeo)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Water resources
Groundwater, Seepage and Heat Flow in Granular media (8L), 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-6 (Prof SPG Madabhushi)
- Concept of porous media and bulk properties.
- Definitions of potential head, pressure head and pore pressure.
- Groundwater flow and seepage
- Theory of flow nets
- Anisotropic soils and flow nets
- Darcy's law and Hydraulic conductivity
- Laboratory and in situ measurements
- Seepage below concrete dams
- Seepage through embankments and earth dams
- Stability and seepage around excavations
- Coffer dams and their stability
- Fourier’s law and heat flow in porous media
- Parallels between ground water flow and heat flow
- Ground source heat pumps
- Storage and extraction of heat from ground
Open Channel Flows (5L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 6-8 (Prof D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in open channels
- Backwater curves
- Water surface profiles in non-uniform flows
Coursework
Labs on underground water and heat flow will take place in Inglis Building Structures Lab, which can be accessed through the big double doors on the Peterhouse roadway or through the corner of the Hydraulics Lab. Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) is activated at the start of Michaelmas. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- Axi-Symmetric flow of ground water into a well boring
- Axi-Symmetric heat flow in saturated soil
Practical information:
- The Structures Lab is adjacent to the Robotics Lab.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs can be based on the 3D5 Lab or be an essay on any water engineering issues. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page. More information on the possible FTR topics will be given in the first lecture.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 07/10/2025 02:46
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2019-20
Module Leader
Lecturers
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof F. A. McRobie)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week,week 8 (Prof F. A. McRobie)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Coursework
Sign-up sheets will be posted on the Inglis Building Mezzanine Floor by 9am on Wednesday of Week 0.
Sediment transport
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Sessions will take place in Room ISG-86 (Inglis Building Ground Floor, Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction).
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.
Booklists
Please see the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references for this module.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 27/10/2019 12:43
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2020-21
Module Leader
Lecturers
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof D Fenner)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week,week 2 (Prof D Fenner)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 3-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Coursework
Labs on sediment motion will conducted in Inglis Building Room ISG-86 in the second half of the Term. Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) will activated on Tuesday of Week 0. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Lab sessions will take place in Room ISG-86, Inglis Building Ground Floor, Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction (CSIC) corridor.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodel page.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 30/09/2020 04:17
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2018-19
Module Leader
Lecturers
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof F. A. McRobie)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week,week 8 (Prof F. A. McRobie)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Coursework
Sign up sheets and handouts will be available on the Inglis Building Mezzanine Floor at the start of the Term.
Sediment transport
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Sessions will take place in Room ISG-86 (Inglis Building Ground Floor, Centre for Smart Infrastructure & Construction).
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.
Booklists
Please see the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references for this module.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 03/08/2018 14:48
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2021-22
Module Leader
Lecturers
Dr D. Liang and Prof F.A. McRobie
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof FA McRobie)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week, week 8 (Prof FA McRobie)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Coursework
Labs on sediment motion will conducted in Inglis Building Structures Lab (shared space with 3D1 and 3C7 Labs). Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) will activated on Tuesday of Week 0. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Lab sessions will take place in the Structures Lab, Inglis Building Ground Floor, which is adjacent to the Robotics Lab.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodel page.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 04/10/2021 15:51
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2023-24
Module Leader
Lecturer
Lecturer
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology and Water Resources (4L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Dr Borgomeo)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 3-8 (Prof D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Coursework
Labs on sediment motion will conducted in Inglis Building Structures Lab, which can be accessed through the big double doors on the Peterhouse roadway or through the corner of the Hydraulics Lab. Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) is activated at the start of Michaelmas. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Lab sessions will take place in the Structures Lab, Inglis Building Ground Floor, which is adjacent to the Robotics Lab.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodel page.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 02/10/2023 11:24
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D5: Water Engineering, 2022-23
Module Leader
Lecturers
Dr D. Liang and Prof F.A. McRobie
Lab Leader
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures and coursework.
Aims
The aims of the course are to:
- Explain some fundamental principles necessary for understanding the common water issues in the world.
- Cover the basic topics in practical hydrology, civil engineering hydraulics, turbulent mixing, and water/waste water treatments.
- Allow students to grasp essential concepts and procedures for analysing hydro-environmental processes and develop skills to solve practical water engineering problems.
- Highlight some of the most pressing water-related global challenges, such as freshwater scarcity, soil erosion, water quality deterioration and flooding, and stress the need for sustainable and integrated management of water resources.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Comprehend the scope of water-related topics in civil and environmental engineering
- Appreciate the environmental, social, political and economical implications of water engineering
- Understand the hydrologic cycle and the Earth’s water budget
- Understand simple models of infiltration
- Undertake simple rainfall-runoff calculations over small catchments
- Understand river hydraulics.
- Be aware of a wide range of hydro-environmental issues
- Understand the advective, diffusive, dispersive and reactive processes related to pollutant transports in uniform flows
- Evaluate the impact of large hydraulic engineering projects
- Solve steady flows using the equations of mass, energy and momentum conservations
- Analyse unsteady flows using the method of characteristics.
- Explain the cause of soil erosion and mitigation measures.
- Understand the mechanism of sand particle motion.
- Calculate the sediment transport rate and determine the bed regime.
- Select pipeline systems for water conveyance
- Make appropriate pump selections and design simple pumping systems
- Be aware of the principles and elements of water/wastewater treatments and the key engineering variables for their design
- Notice the limitations of the traditional water supply and sewage treatment systems in a sustainability context
Content
Hydrology (3L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 1-2 (Prof FA McRobie)
- Global water issues
- Hydrologic cycle
- Unit hydrographs
Open Channel Flows, Pollutant and Sediment Transports (12L) 2 lectures/week, weeks 2-8 (Dr D. Liang)
- Boundary layer and turbulence
- Flow resistance
- Steady flow in pipelines
- Water pollution
- Steady flow in open channels
- Pollutant advection,diffusion,dispersion and reaction
- Unsteady flow,flood routing and method of characteristics
- Sediment transport and bed form
- Pipeline systems
- Pumping systems
Water/Waste Treatments (1L) 2 lectures/week, week 8 (Prof FA McRobie)
- Water treatment
- Wastewater treatment
Coursework
Labs on sediment motion will conducted in Inglis Building Structures Lab, which can be accessed through the big double doors on the Peterhouse roadway or through the corner of the Hydraulics Lab. Sign-up page (http://to.eng.cam.ac.uk/teaching/apps/cuedle/index.php?context=3D5) is activated at the start of Michaelmas. Lab reports should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodle page within 15 days after the experiment.
Learning objectives:
- To gain first-hand experience of open channel flow and sediment transport phenomena.
- To study the threshold condition under which sediments are moved. This condition separates the state of the clear-water flow over an immobile bed from the state where sediment transport and bed deformation take place.
- To investigate the relationship between the bed forms and the flow conditions. This is important because the bed forms have a significant impact on the bed roughness and thus the channel conveyance.
- To appreciate the local scour phenomena around underwater structures.
Practical information:
- Lab sessions will take place in the Structures Lab, Inglis Building Ground Floor, which is adjacent to the Robotics Lab.
- This activity doesn't involve preliminary work, but it will be beneficial to read the handouts beforehand.
Full Technical Report:
Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report. FTRs should be submitted on the 3D5 Moodel page.
Booklists
Please refer to the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references to this module, this can be found on the associated Moodle course.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
D1
Wide knowledge and comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and the ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations.
S1
The ability to make general evaluations of commercial risks through some understanding of the basis of such risks.
S3
Understanding of the requirement for engineering activities to promote sustainable development.
S4
Awareness of the framework of relevant legal requirements governing engineering activities, including personnel, health, safety, and risk (including environmental risk) issues.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
P3
Understanding of contexts in which engineering knowledge can be applied (e.g. operations and management, technology, development, etc).
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 02/10/2022 17:57
Engineering Tripos Part IIA, 3D1: Geotechnical Engineering I, 2017-18
Module Leader
Lecturers
Dr G Biscontin and Dr S Haigh
Lab Leader
Dr G Biscontin
Timing and Structure
Michaelmas term. 16 lectures.
Objectives
As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:
- Use data of water content and density to calculate saturation and voids ratio.
- Specify appropriate compaction criteria from soil laboratory data.
- Calculate vertical profiles of pore water pressure, total and effective stresses.
- Determine soil compressibility and calculate uniform ground settlements.
- Determine isochrones of excess pore pressure for various transient flows.
- Relate soil permeability, soil stiffness, and the coefficient of consolidation.
- Find the time required for various degrees of soil consolidation.
- Specify “drained” or “undrained” direct shear tests, and interpret them.
- Use Mohr circles of total or effective stress to interpret triaxial tests.
- Perform upper and lower bound limit analyses of drained and undrained soil.
- Analyse limiting equilibrium with slip planes and slip circles as mechanisms.
- Search for the least optimistic mechanism of failure in soil using either f or cu.
- Perform simple design calculations of a strip footing on clay and sand.
- Perform simple design calculation of a retaining structure in clay and sand.
- Make allowances for groundwater pressures in drained stability calculations.
Content
Structures depend for their stability on the ground which supports their foundations. Furthermore, many structures are actually built of soil (road, rail and flood embankments, dams, road bases and rail beds, waste repositories) or have to retain soil as their prime purpose (basement walls, quay walls, tunnels and pipes). So all Civil and Structural Engineers should understand soil behaviour and be able to apply this understanding in geotechnical engineering design and construction. This course introduces soil as a product of nature and focuses on its material properties and behaviour in engineering applications. Soil comprises solid grains, water and sometimes air. The solid phase is an interlocking aggregate of soil grains that can deform and rearrange; the fluid phase inhabits an interconnected pore space through which flow can take place. Total stresses, arising from loads or from the self-weight of the soil itself, have to be partitioned between these two phases. Pore pressures arise firstly from hydrostatics, but are modified by the effects of viscous drag when the fluid is flowing. Once pore pressures have been discounted, the remaining effective stresses must act between the grains, giving rise to deformations of the granular skeleton and therefore to displacements at the ground surface and possible distortions of any connected superstructures. This partition of stress is known as the principle of effective stress; it is the key to understanding soil behaviour and is the main theme of the first example paper.
If loads or deformations are imposed on a saturated soil body whose voids are free of air, and whose pore fluid can therefore be regarded as incompressible, and if they are applied so quickly that fluid has no time to escape, then the process is described as “undrained” and the soil must deform at constant volume. The process of transient flow, taking soil from an “undrained” to a “drained” state, can lead either to consolidation (fluid drains out, and soil gets denser and stronger) or swelling (which is the opposite). These phenomena lead to the familiar cracking-up of houses founded on soft clay soils that compress under load, or stiff clay soils that shrink in dry weather. The magnitude and rate of such volume changes forms the theme of the second examples paper. In addition to being prone to volume changes, soils are also relatively weak in shear – perhaps 3 orders of magnitude weaker than concrete. Once again, the possibility of transient flow dictates the outcome. After large shear distortions, “undrained” soils ultimately display a constant undrained strength, familiar to someone remoulding modelling clay between their fingers. If, on the other hand, the loads or deformations are imposed so slowly that the fluid can move completely freely, the process is described as “drained” and the soil deforms at constant pore pressure. In these circumstances, the strength of the soil is dictated by friction and interlocking between its grains. Ultimately the soil will display a constant internal angle of friction, familiar as the angle of repose of dry sand in sand dunes. Given enough time, underwater slopes in clay also rest at their angle of repose, as do sands. Tests to establish the drained (sand-like) or undrained (clay-like) strengths of soils, will be introduced and explained. These tests are covered at the start of the third examples sheet.
Once it has been established that a given undrained shear strength, or alternatively a given angle of internal friction, can be relied upon, the next step is to be able to make calculations to demonstrate whether a soil body will remain stable under its own weight, or under the loads applied by structural foundations, for example. This module extends the plastic analysis of structures, first encountered in Part IB Structures, to bodies made of soil. Both “upper bound” style calculations based on assumed failure mechanisms, and “lower bound” calculations based on demonstrating equilibrium through Mohr’s circles, will be introduced. The stability of foundations and earthworks – both “undrained” and “drained” – will form the main part of the third examples sheet.
Topic 1: The granular continuum
Basic definitions of soil constituents, and their packing
Phase relationships. Density of grains and water; voids ratio and saturation; water content, unit weight. Classification of soils using particle size distribution curves; void sizes, internal erosion. Relative density of sands. Atterberg’s classification tests – plastic limit, liquid limit, and plasticity index of clayey soils.
Soils in nature, and the principle of effective stress
Deposition and formation of natural soils. Loading history: normally consolidated and over-consolidated soils. The principle of effective stress. Stresses beneath level ground: total vertical stress, hydrostatics and pore pressures, vertical effective stress. Water table, capillary zone. Trial pits, boreholes and tube samples.
Steady state seepage & slope stability
Steady 1D flow through soil: seepage potential, hydraulic gradient, permeability proportional to void size squared, natural percolation of rainfall. Stability of infinite slopes dry, submerged and with seepage
Topic 2: Compression and Compaction
Artificially formed soils: compaction
Proctor compaction test. Compaction energy; optimum water content; degree of saturation. Controlling compaction in the field: monitoring dry density as a practical alternative to voids ratio, relative compaction. Clayey soils: brittleness and wetting-collapse if compacted dry of optimum, softness if compacted wet of optimum.
Compressibility and stiffness )
Uniaxial compression of a skeleton of elastic, crushable grains by voids migration. Oedometer test, ultimate drained data of compression versus effective stress. Data of sands and clays; compressibility and stiffness.
Topic 3: Consolidation
Transient flow & the Oedometer Test
Excess pore pressures due to 1D loading, the use of parabolic isochrones to depict transient flow. 1D consolidation of a unit cell with single drainage: parabolic isochrones, areas and gradients, consolidation parameters. Interpreting transient compression in oedometer tests using square root of time. Differences between times required for normal consolidation and swelling. Creepcu.
One-dimensional consolidation in the field
Subdividing the ground into layers, using representative oedometer data, and summing compressions into ground settlements. Application to land reclamation. Use of surcharging to reduce consolidation times. Consolidation due to changes in the groundwater regime.
Topic 4: The shear strength of soil
“Direct” and “simple” shear tests: undrained and drained
Direct/simple shear test. “Drained” tests at constant effective normal stress. Dilation / contraction to a critical state, mobilised angles of friction and of dilatancy; typical data of a sand and a clay. Residual friction of polished slip surface in pure clay.“Undrained” tests at constant volume; typical data of a sand and a clay. Limiting shear speeds for drained and undrained behaviour in a shear box test.
Topic 5: Limiting equilibrium of geotechnical structures
Shallow foundation design in clay : vertical loading
Bearing capacity of a shallow strip footing on clay. Upper bounds; kinematically admissible mechanism, shear strength, global work or equilibrium. Slip circles and slip planes for non-dilatant soils. Lower bounds; statically admissible stress field, shear strength, equilibrium everywhere. Uniform undrained shear resistance cu.
Shallow foundation design in clay : combined loading
Bearing capacity of a shallow strip footing on clay under combined loading. Uniform undrained shear resistance. Effect of vertical, horizontal and moment loading.
Shallow foundation design in sand : vertical loading
Bearing capacity of a shallow strip footing on sand. Uniform angle of friction; stress discontinuities, dry sand. Weightless soil. Upper and lower bounds.
Shallow foundation design in sand : effect of self-weight and water
Bearing capacity of a shallow strip footing on sand. Effect of self-weight. Influence of water table.
Stability of retaining structures in clay
The stability of retaining structures (walls, cuts and excavations) in clay is examined using plasticity theory. Limiting pressures on retaining walls; estimates of active and passive pressure, tension cracks. Solutions are derived for undrained conditions.
Stability of retaining structures in sand
The stability of retaining walls in sand is examined using plasticity theory. Limiting pressures on retaining walls; estimates of active and passive pressure, Solutions for limiting earth pressures on rough walls. Solutions are derived for drained conditions, and attention is given to the influence of groundwater.
Examples papers
There will be three examples papers directly related to the lecture course, given out in weeks 1, 3 and 6.
Basic relationships for a granular continuum
Consolidation and swelling
Soil strength, and the limiting equilibrium of soil bodies
Coursework
Atterberg Limit Tests
Learning objectives:
Practical information:
- Sessions will take place in [Location], during week(s) [xxx].
- This activity [involves/doesn't involve] preliminary work ([estimated duration]).
Full Technical Report:
Students [will/won't] have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.
Booklists
Please see the Booklist for Part IIA Courses for references for this module.
Examination Guidelines
Please refer to Form & conduct of the examinations.
UK-SPEC
This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:
Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.
GT1
Develop transferable skills that will be of value in a wide range of situations. These are exemplified by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Higher Level Key Skills and include problem solving, communication, and working with others, as well as the effective use of general IT facilities and information retrieval skills. They also include planning self-learning and improving performance, as the foundation for lifelong learning/CPD.
IA1
Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of problems.
KU1
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, theories and principles of their engineering discipline, and its underpinning science and mathematics.
KU2
Have an appreciation of the wider multidisciplinary engineering context and its underlying principles.
E1
Ability to use fundamental knowledge to investigate new and emerging technologies.
E2
Ability to extract data pertinent to an unfamiliar problem, and apply its solution using computer based engineering tools when appropriate.
E3
Ability to apply mathematical and computer based models for solving problems in engineering, and the ability to assess the limitations of particular cases.
P1
A thorough understanding of current practice and its limitations and some appreciation of likely new developments.
US1
A comprehensive understanding of the scientific principles of own specialisation and related disciplines.
US2
A comprehensive knowledge and understanding of mathematical and computer models relevant to the engineering discipline, and an appreciation of their limitations.
US3
An understanding of concepts from a range of areas including some outside engineering, and the ability to apply them effectively in engineering projects.
Last modified: 03/08/2017 15:30
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