A series of anti-coronavirus activities: “Philosophical debate”

On the afternoon of December 25, 2021, the Department of Geological Engineering invited Prof. Li Tonglu to give an online lecture entitled “Two controversial propositions in the study of the engineering properties of loess: dominant flow and static liquefaction”, pushing the academic activity “philosophical debate” to the cloud as a main content of the series of anti-coronavirus activities. The lecture was hosted by Prof. Shi Yuling, and more than 350 experts, scholars and graduate students from all over the country participated in the lecture online.

Through a large number of engineering examples, abundant experimental and field observation data and refined theoretical reasoning, Prof. Li presented the profound theory to the audience with easy-to-understand language. He believes that saturated seepage and unsaturated seepage should be distinguished in the study of loess properties, and emphasizes that there is no dominant flow in unsaturated seepage. In addition, Prof. Li believes that static liquefaction will occur during rapid loading of foundation soil. On the contrary, he proposed that there is no static liquefaction in the slope, i.e., the liquefaction in the movement process after the slope instability, which belongs to flow liquefaction.

Prof. Li’s lecture was greatly appreciated and recognized by the participants, and there were positive interactions with Prof. Li in the online comments section. They said that by listening to Prof. Li’s lecture, they not only understood the frontier of research in related fields, but also made graduate students feel the charm of logical reasoning and continuous exploration in scientific research. In addition, many audiences wished to get PPT and screen recording materials, Prof. Li expressed his willingness to share them with everyone.

Despite being trapped in their homes, dormitories, or isolated in hotels due to the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19, students and faculty continue to study and learn. Through such activities as “Philosophical debate”, we have also established a cloud bridge for communication.

Provide：Zhan，Jiewei