Unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice - Adrian Russell AGS presentation
In May 2022 CIES Professor and ARC Future fellow Professor Adrian Russell gave a presentation for the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS), in which he focused on the uptake of unsaturated soil mechanics in engineering practice.
In his talk entitled, The mechanics of unsaturated soils and tailings - With comments on practical applications, Adrian outlined industry changes and trends in Australia, including good practices and commonly made mistakes. He then gave examples of research outcomes related to strength and stability calculations and showed how they can be applied routinely in commercial software. Adrian also outlined areas where additional knowledge is needed.
Presentation slides are available here.
The video is available for members of AGS to view at https://australiangeomechanics.org/meetings/unsaturated-soil-mechanics-i...
About ARC Future Fellow Professor Adrian Russell:
Adrian Russell completed his PhD at UNSW in 2004, was a lecturer at the University of Bristol in the UK until 2007, then returned to UNSW.
His research interests and industry interactions have seen him:
- produce the first stability charts for slopes comprising partially saturated soils, derived using slip line theory;
- relate field measurements of water retention in unsaturated soil slopes to stability;
- develop practical guidelines for in situ determination of unsaturated soil and tailings properties using the CPT; and
- analyse and observe experimentally the way retaining walls and shallow foundations interact with unsaturated soils.
His recent and ongoing industry interactions include a secondment to Pells Sullivan Meynink Pty Ltd in 2019 and reviews of tailings storage stabilities incorporating unsaturated soil mechanics. He is a member of TC106 and TC221, the Technical Committees concerned with unsaturated soils and tailings within the ISSMGE. He is also a Sydney Chapter Committee Member of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS).
