Geotechnical Engineering for

Environmental Engineers
UGNA3153
Year 3 Jan Trimester
BEng (Hons) Environmental Engineering

ground

1
Geotechnical Engineering for
Environmental Engineers

Soil Compressibility and

Consolidation (2)

2
Soil Compressibility and Consolidation (2)
Fundamental of Consolidation

3
Soil Compressibility and Consolidation (2)
Fundamental of Consolidation

4
Soil Compressibility and Consolidation (2)
Magnitude of Settlement/Consolidation in Soils
Consider the following block diagram for a soil:

For simplicity in treating the compression of soils, it is a assumed that:

a) the soil grains themselves are rigid and incompressible; and
b) the change in volume of a soil is due to a re−arrangement of the soil
grains, leading to a reduction of void volume.

• For most soils, these assumptions are quite valid.

5
Primary consolidation settlement

A serious question is how long does it take

for the pore pressures to become stable???? 6
Time for pore pressure stabilization

7
Primary consolidation settlement

Primary consolidation settlement of soil is the gradual

reduction in volume of voids upon loading. In saturated
soils (Clays), the reduction of void volume occurs due to
dissipation of excess pore-water pressure.

Primary consolidation settlement is:

• Inelastic
• Partial recoverable
• Time -dependent

8
Primary consolidation settlement

Consolidation of sand

Permeability of sand is high

• Drainage occurs almost instantaneously – The settlement is
IMMEDIATE
• Elastic and consolidation processes cannot be isolated
• Primary Consolidation is incorporated in the elastic parameters

• Coarse-grained soils DO NOT undergo consolidation settlement

due to relatively high hydraulic conductivity compared to clayey
soils. Instead, coarse-grained soils undergo IMMEDIATE
settlement.

9
Primary consolidation settlement
Consolidation of clay.
Permeability of clay is low
• Drainage occurs slowly – therefore, the settlement and strength
gained are DELAYED
• Settlement can be separated (elastic, primary and secondary
consolidation)
•Clayey soils undergo consolidation settlement not only under the
action of “external” loads (surcharge loads) but also under its
own weight or weight of soils that exist above the clay (geostatic
loads)
• Clayey soils also undergo settlement when dewatered (e.g.,
ground water pumping) – because the effective stress on
the clay increases

10
 One- Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test

•The main purpose of consolidation test is to obtain soil properties

which are used in predicting the rate and amount of consolidation
settlement of structures founded on clay.
• The most important soil properties determined by a consolidation
test are:
– The pre-consolidation stress, σc, This is the maximum stress that
the soil has been subjected in the past.
– The compression index, Cc , which indicates the compressibility
of a normally-consolidated soil.
– The recompression index, Cr (swelling index – Cs), which
indicates the compressibility of an over-consolidated soil.
– Coefficient of volume compressibility, mv ,volume change per
unit volume per unit increase in effective stress
– The coefficient of consolidation, cv , which indicates the rate of
compression under a load increment. 11
Oedometer
(Consolidometer)
Oedometer (Consolidometer)
 One- Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test

1 Place sample in ring 2 Apply load

3 Measure height change 4 Repeat for new load

14
 One- Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test

Test procedure
• Measure the inner diameter and height of the consolidation ring (76
mm in diameter, 20 mm in height) and record its mass
• Prepare a soil specimen for the test by placing the soil in the ring and
trimming
• Measure the mass of ring + soil
• Collect some excess soil for measuring moisture content
• Measure or assume Gs (specific gravity of soil)
• Place the lower porous stone on the base of the consolidometer
• Place the sample (in the ring) on the lower porous stone and place the
upper porous stone
• Apply seating stress on the sample and submerge the sample in the
water for saturation
• Apply a stress (e.g. 12.5 kPa) and record the change insample height
• Repeat for new stress value (e.g. 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800
and 1600 KPa 15
One- Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test
• The general shape of the plot of deformation of the specimen
against time for a given load increment below.

16
Time – deformation plot during consolidation
for a given load increment

17
Successive load increments

18
Void Ratio – Pressure Plots
After obtaining time-deformations plots for various loadings
in the laboratory, it is necessary to study the change in void
ratio of the specimen with pressure

19
Void Ratio – Pressure Plots

20
21
Normally Consolidated& Overconsolidated
Clays
 A soil in the field at some depth has been subjected to a certain
maximum effective past pressure in its geological history.
 This maximum effective past pressure may be equal to or less
than the existing effective overburden pressure at the time of
sampling.
 Normal consolidated, Whose present effective overburden
pressure is the maximum pressure that the soil was subjected to
in the past.
 Overconsolidated, Whose present effective overburden
pressure is less than that which the soil experienced in the past.
The maximum effective past pressure is preconsolidation
pressure.
Normally Consolidated& Overconsolidated
Clays
Normally Consolidated& Overconsolidated Clays

•During soil sampling, the existing effective overburden pressure is released,

resulting some expansion.
• During consolidation test, a small amount of compression will occur when the
total pressure applied is less than the maximum overburden effective stress in
the field to which the soil has been subjected in the past ( a to b)
• When the total applied pressure on the specimen is greater than the maximum
effective past pressure, the change in void ratio is much larger, an the e – log
σ’ relationship is particularly linear with a steeper slopes (b to c) or (f to g)
• This relationship can be verified in the laboratory by loading the specimen to
exceed the maximum effective overburden pressure, and then unloading and
reloading again. ( c – d – f – g)
Normally Consolidated& Overconsolidated Clays

Preconsolidation
Pressure, σc’
Casagrande
construction
(1936)
Compression Indices
Compressibility Coefficient of volume (mv)
 The volume change per unit volume per unit increase in
effective stress.
 The units of mv are the inverse of pressure (m2/kN)

The volume change can be expressed in terms of either void ratio

or specimen thickness
Example 1:
Following are the results of a laboratory consolidation test on a soil
specimen obtained from the field. Dry mass of the specimen (ms) = 128 g,
height of the specimen at the beginning of the test (H) = 2.54 cm, Gs=2.75,
and area of the specimen (A) = 30.68 cm2

Make necessary calculations and draw an e vs. log σ’ curve and

obtain pre-consolidation pressure, σc’
30
Solution
Calculation of Hs (soil height)

Void ratio, e

Calculation of Hv (height of voids)

31
Solution

32
Solution

33
Example 2:

The laboratory consolidation data for an undisturbed clay

sample are as follows:

Calculate the coefficient of volume compressibility, mv. What

will be the void ratio for a pressure of 600 kPa ? (Note: σc’< 95 kPa)

34
Solution

35
Total primary consolidation Settlement (Sp)
from one-dimensional primary consolidation
How do we compute total primary
consolidation settlement Sp ?

There are basically two methods.

Total primary consolidation settlement Sp ?

By definition,
Example
The vertical soil profile shown below is loaded with a uniform surcharged
pressure of 60 kPa on the ground surface. If the water table is at the ground
surface, calculate the total consolidation settlement at the ground surface.

Clay Properties from

laboratory consolidation on
clay sample taken from these
clay layers
Solution

41
Solution

42
Empirical methods to obtain Compression
Index (Cc) and Recompression (swell) Index (Cr)
Method 2- Using mv
 Secondary Consolidation
 Secondary consolidation settlement is a form of
soil creep that is largely controlled by the rate at
which the skeleton of compressible soils,
particularly clays, silts, and peats, can yield and
compress.
 Secondary consolidation is often conveniently
identified to follow primary consolidation when
excess pore fluid pressure can no longer be
measured; however, both processes may occur
simultaneously.
Secondary Consolidation
The index of secondary consolidation is proportional to the logarithm
of time and the slope of primary consolidation (it is strongly
dependent on the final effective stress in soil:

 where: Cα - index of secondary compression

 - deformation of a soil layer
 t1 - initial time of a period of monitoring (measured from the start
of consolidation).
 t2 - final time of a period of monitoring.
Secondary Consolidation
 Ranges of values of index of secondary compression
Cα
Sand 0,00003 – 0,00006
Silty loess 0,0004
Clay 0,01
 Soil Compressibility and Consolidation

The total settlement of a foundation can then be given as

ST = Sc + Sp + Se
Where ST= total settlement
Sp = Primary consolidation settlement
Ss = Secondary consolidation settlement
Se = elastic settlement

48
 Soil Compressibility and Consolidation

Janbu, Bjerrum and Kjaernsli’s Method Janbu, Bjerrum and Kjaernsli (1956) have suggested
the equation to compute average immediate settlement under a flexible compressible foundation
in saturated undrained clays. The equation is given below:

———- (3)

Where, si = Average immediate settlement for flexible footing

µ0 µ1 = Shape factors obtained from the charts shown in Fig.2

Eu = Undrained modulus of elasticity of the soil

q = Load on foundation

B = Smaller dimension of the loaded area

49
Example: A foundation 4m × 2m shown in Figure Q1 (b), carrying a net
uniform pressure of 200 kN/m2, is located at a depth of 1.5 m in
a layer of clay 5m thick for which the value of Eu is 45 MN/m2.
The layer is underlain by a second layer, 10m thick, for which
the value of Eu is 80 MN/m2. A hard stratum lies below the
second layer. Ground water table is at the depth of foundation.
Determine the average immediate settlement under the
foundation.
Hint: Since soil is saturated clay, Vs =0.5.
Solution:

based on
Consolidation vs. Compaction