Institute of Geotechnical Engineering at IS-Grenoble 2024

The IS-Grenoble 2024 (5th International Symposium on Geomechanics from Micro to Macro) is the fifth international symposium organized every four years by the Technical Committee 105 (Geomechanics from Micro to Macro) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The previous symposia were held in 2006 at Yamaguchi University in Japan, in 2010 at Tongji University in China, in 2014 at Cambridge University in England and in 2018 at Georgia Tech in the USA.

This year's IS-Grenoble 2024 took place from 23 to 27 September in Grenoble, France and was organized by ALERT-Geomaterials, The Alliance of Laboratories in Europe for Education, Research and Technology.

© Bozana Bacic

This symposium strives to advance the goals of TC 105, focusing on promoting collaboration and the exchange of information on the behavior of soil grains and their complex interactions. At the same time, a deeper microscopic understanding of macroscopic behavior is sought. The discussion on the use of microstructural measurements is particularly valuable in order to further optimize soil characterization methods and provide a sound basis for geotechnical practice.

The research work of our Institute was presented at the IS-Grenoble 2024 in both an oral talk and a poster presentation. Our colleague Bozana Bacic presented the newly developed PWP Tester and addressed the question of whether the pore water pressure build-up is primarily influenced by the relative density of the soil or significantly by the soil fabric, in particular the contacts between the soil grains. Selma Schmidt presented her research on the development of soil fabric in representative volume elements, highlighting key mechanisms that determine the macroscopic behavior of granular soils.