Soil mechanics

Soil mechanics is an engineering branch that studies the properties of soils. The term 'soils' is used to describe a big range of earth material.

Soil mechanics tests are performed in order to determine the soil properties, such as shear stress, dilatancy, and creep.

One of the first tests applied to almost any type of soil is a simple subdivision based on the grain size of the particles that constitute the soil since they have different mechanical properties.

Jenike's theory includes some soil mechanics tests, directly related to the design of silos. Direct shear tests are performed to determine the flow properties of bulk solids.