Constitutive Modelling in Geomechanics: Introduction

The purpose of this book is to bridge the gap between the traditional Geomechanics and Numerical Geotechnical Modelling with applications in science and practice. Geomechanics is rarely taught within the rigorous context of Continuum Mechanics and Thermodynamics, while when it comes to Numerical Modelling, commercially available finite elements or finite differences software utilize constitutive relationships within the rigorous framework. As a result, young scientists and engineers have to learn the challenging subject of constitutive modelling from a program manual and often end up with using unrealistic models which violate the Laws of Thermodynamics. 

The book is introductory, by no means does it claim any completeness and state of the art in such a dynamically developing field as numerical and constitutive modelling of soils. The author gives basic understanding of conventional continuum mechanics approaches to constitutive modelling, which can serve as a foundation for exploring more advanced theories. A considerable effort has been invested here into the clarity and brevity of the presentation. A special feature of this book is in exploring thermomechanical consistency of all presented constitutive models in a simple and systematic manner.

Alexander M. Puzrin has been Professor and Chair of Geotechnical Engineering at the ETH Zurich since 2004. He received his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering in 1997 from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty. In 2001 he was appointed an Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. His expertise lies in constitutive modelling of geomaterials, progressive and catastrophic failure in soils, creeping and tsunamigenic landslides and geotechnical monitoring. He is the author of 5 books and more than 50 journal papers. Prof. Puzrin has been involved as an expert in geotechnical projects in Russia, Israel, USA, Mexico and Switzerland. He was elected the Honorary Editor and the Chairman of Geotechnique Advisory Panel for 2012-2015.