Geotechnical engineering is a specialized branch of civil engineering that applies the principles of to the design and construction of engineering structures . It focuses on the behavior of earth materials and their interaction with man-made structures. 1. Core Principles of Soil Mechanics
), often modeled by the . Coarse soils like sand rely mainly on friction, while fine-grained soils like clay rely on cohesion. Principles of Geotechnical Engineering
: These include particle size distribution (sieve analysis) and Atterberg limits (liquid limit and plastic limit), which describe the plasticity and consistency of fine-grained soils. Geotechnical engineering is a specialized branch of civil
Geotechnical engineers categorize soils to predict their engineering behavior: Principles of Geotechnical Engineering