Advances in Computational Methods for Soil Sciences

The topics that will be discussed at this mini-symposium will deal with the numerical modeling of soil behaviors subjected to different types of loadings and address questions about the modeling of different physical processes as related to soils.
Soils are complex materials inside of which the interactions at the micro level of the particles between each other, and with water and air, may have a significant impact on a larger scale, including the macro characteristics of buildings. Thermal, hydraulic and mechanical loadings can also affect the properties of the soils. Computer models of soil behavior for real applications are becoming extremely complex and involve a wide range of disciplines.
This mini-symposium will serve as a discussion platform about recent achievements in the field of numerical modeling for soil mechanics. The topics that will be addressed during the mini-symposium will be, among others: constitutive models for soils; multi-scale and multi-physics simulations; discrete and continuum formulations for thermo-hydro-mechanics problems; spatial variability of soil properties; stability of the slopes; liquefaction; permafrost; etc.