The objective of this Master's degree programme is to acquaint engineers with the behaviour of soils and rocks and advanced methods of analysis, design and construction in Geotechnical Engineering. It is expected that students attending this course will be drawn mainly from design and consulting firms, construction companies and government organizations.
For admission as a candidate for the degree of Master of Science (Geotechnical Engineering), a person must be a graduate of this University or such graduate of another university as the Academic Board may approve, and must, in addition, have obtained a bachelor's degree in Engineering.
The programme, which commences in July each year, comprises eight coursework subjects and a dissertation based on an approved project. Each subject carries 3 academic units and the dissertation carries 6 academic units. For successful completion of the programme of study, candidates must obtain a total number of 30 academic units. The minimum and maximum periods of candidature for full-time candidates are 1 year and three years respectively. The minimum and maximum periods of candidature for part-time candidates are two years and four years respectively.
The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering will determine which eight subjects are to be offered from the following list:
- CV6301 Advanced Soil Mechanics
- CV6302 Engineering Properties of Soils
- CV6303 Shallow and Deep Foundations
- CV6304 Excavation & Soft Ground Tunnelling
- CV6305 Earth Structures
- CV6306 Ground Modifications & Land Reclamation
- CV6307 Application of Finite Element Method to Geotechnical Problems
- CV6308 Geotechnical Computation & Reliability Analysis
- CV6309 Engineering Geology & Rock Engineering
- CV6310 Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering
Two subjects will be offered each semester. Candidates are expected to
carry out the dissertation work concurrently with coursework.
Note: Curriculum is subject to changes.
CV6301 Advanced Soil Mechanics
Physical properties of soils. Mechanical behaviour of soil: compressibility,
stress-strain behaviour, shear strength. Critical state concept. Unsaturated
soil mechanics.
CV6302 Engineering Properties of Soils
Soil properties: features and influence of post formation process, in-situ
stresses, deformation and shear strength, compressibility, permeability
and consolidation. Laboratory tests: general considerations, measurements
of strength, stiffness, compressibility and consolidation parameters,
effect of sample disturbance. In-situ tests: measurements of permeability,
initial stresses and vertical yield stress, deformation properties, shear
strength, and compressibility and consolidation parameters, result interpretation.
Evaluation of design parameters.
CV6303 Shallow and Deep Foundations
Raft Foundations: design considerations, raft settlement, soil-raft
interaction analysis, floating foundations, pile-raft foundations. Deep
Foundations: response of piles to vertical and horizontal loads, load
transfer, effects of pile driving, dynamic pile testing, static pile load
tests.
CV6304 Excavation & Soft Ground Tunnelling
Excavation: earth retention system, slope and basal heave stability, design
of wall and support system, wall deflection and ground movements, groundwater
control, field monitoring and construction control, case studies. Soft
ground tunnelling: construction methods, design of tunnel support system,
ground treatment, dewatering, ground deformation due to tunnelling, instrumentation
and monitoring.
CV6305 Earth Structures
Slope stability: methods of slices, evaluation of soil parameters, applications.
Settlement: primary and secondary compression, time rate of consolidation,
preloading, vertical drains, evaluation of soil parameters. Embankment
over soft clay: slope stability, settlement, stage construction. Geosynthetic
reinforcement: reinforced slope and reinforced embankment, selection of
geosynthetics.
CV6306 Ground Modifications & Land Reclamation
Ground modification: overview, surface compaction, deep compaction of
granular soils, vertical drains, soil stabilization by inclusions and
admixtures, assessment of ground conditions, instrumentation and performance
monitoring. Reclamation: construction methods, specification and contractual
problems, construction control, special problems for construction on newly
reclaimed sites.
CV6307 Application of Finite Element Method to Geotechnical Problems
Introduction to finite element method: problem formulation, element types,
constitutive models, solution algorithms. Application to geotechnical
problems: problem idealization, mesh construction, selection of element
types, boundary conditions, in-situ stresses, evaluation of soil parameters,
construction simulation.
CV6308 Geotechnical Computation & Reliability Analysis
Programming techniques in spreadsheet. Constrained optimization. Deterministic
and probabilistic analysis in geotechnical engineering: slope stability,
axially and laterally loaded piles, shallow foundations, earth retaining
structures, consolidation settlement. Reliability-based design. Risk and
uncertainty analysis. System reliability. Monte Carlo simulations. Case
studies.
CV6309 Engineering Geology & Rock Engineering
Engineering geology: plate tectonics, minerals, rock types and rock cycle,
geological structures, rock dating and geological time scale, geological
maps, hemispherical projection, geology of Singapore. Rock mechanics:
rock mass classifications, laboratory measurements of strength and deformation
properties of rocks, failure criteria, shear strength of discontinuities.
Applications: rock foundations, stability of rock slopes, underground
rock excavations.
CV6310 Special Topics in Geotechnical Engineering
The topics can be in unsaturated mechanics, underground rock caverns,
environmental geotechnics, soil dynamics and earthquake engineering, offshore
geotechnics, reinforced soil structures, soil improvement techniques,
earth and rockfill dams, foundation system, numerical methods and modelling
in ground engineering, constitutive soil modelling and others. The topic
to be offered may be different every year.
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