ENCE 340

Consolidation

Dr. Ahmet Aydilek

Foundation settlement

1
Settlement

Foundation settlement

2
Foundation settlement

3
Settlement around a monitoring well in a landfill

4
Settlement analyses

Settlement analyses are broken into two

general categories –

1. Consolidation of clayey soils (clay)

2. (Elastic) Settlement of sandy soils

Settlement

Settlement of sand is rapid, caused by

particles moving into the voids.

Loose sands are readily and effectively

compacted (compared to clays).

When settlement is expected, vibratory

compaction is usually chosen to reduce
settlement.

5
Distortion settlement beneath a small loaded area.

6
7
Settlement of Clays

•Settlement of clay is called consolidation. It

causes the most problems because it may take
decades to manifest itself.

•Drainage conditions greatly influence the

amount and rate of consolidation.

• Because of this, clay consolidation is difficult

to predict with confidence.

8
Example 10.1.

9
 Consolidation
• Consolidation describes the pressing of soil
particles into a tighter packing in response to an
increase in effective stress.

• The long-term settlement of fine-grained soil

layers is primarily controlled by consolidation.

• The phenomenon of compression due to very

slow extrusion of water from the voids in a fine-
grained soil as a result of increased loading is
known as consolidation

10
 Consolidation

•Consolidation of clays is commonly

calculated using Terzaghi theory.

•This theory calculates estimates of total

settlement (at time = infinity), and time-rate
of settlement.

Consolidation

11
Example 10.2.

12
 When the fill is placed

σ zf  σ o   fill H fill
 136  19.5 * 5
 234 kPa

13
14
1-D consolidation has the following characteristics: (a) consolidation
settlement is assumed to occur only in the vertical direction; and (b)
excess pore water is assumed to escape only by flowing
vertically.

Consolidation Test
• This test method is most commonly performed
on undisturbed samples of fine-grained soils.

• In this test method a specimen is restrained

laterally and loaded axially with the total stress
increments.

• Each stress increment is maintained until the

excess pore water pressures are completely
dissipated.

15
16
Outline of consolidation procedure

To calculate ultimate settlement (at time = )

- divide field clay layer into convenient

sublayers
- take undisturbed sample(s) from each
layer
- run consolidation tests on samples from
each layer
- plot void ratio vs. log effective stress
curves

Consolidation

17
 - find maximum past effective stress (using
the Casagrande procedure)

- calculate current effective stress that was

on sample when it was in field

- compare maximum past effective stress

with current effective stress, to determine if
OC, NC or underconsolidated

1. Locate the point of minimum radius on the

consolidation curve (Point A).
2. Draw a horizontal line through Point A.
3. Draw a line tangent to the laboratory curve at
Point A.
4. Draw the line that bisects the angle formed by the
lines from Steps 2 and 3.
5. Extend the straight portion of the virgin curve
upward until it intersects the line drawn in Step 4.
This identifies Point B. The vertical effective
stress at Point B is the preconsolidation stress, σ’c
Note that e or εz corresponding to Point B is not
used in any analysis.

18
 Determining the preconsolidation
stress(pc)

Casagrande
Method

0.5 1 2.0 5 10
Stress (kPa)

19
 Sample disturbance affects consolidation test results, thus
Schmertmann’s correction procedure becomes necessary.

Schmertmann’s
correction
procedure

20
1. Determine σ’c using Casagrande procedure.
2. Compute the initial vertical stress, σ’z0,at the
sample depth. This is the effective stress prior to
placement of the proposed load.
3. Draw a horizontal line at e = e0 (or εz = 0) from the
vertical axis to σ’z0. This locates Point C.
4. Beginning at Point C, draw a line parallel to the
unloading curve. Continue to the right until
reaching σ’c . This defines Point D. In some cases,
σ’c = σ’z0, so this step becomes unnecessary.

5. Extend the virgin curve downward to e = 0.42 e0,

Thus locating Point E. If no void ratio is included
on the consolidation plot, locate Point E at εz =
0.42, which is the same as e = 0.42 e0 when e0 = 2
and sufficiently close for other initial void ratios
(i.e., locating Point E more precisely has very little
impact on the results of Scmertmann’s
construction).
6. Draw a line connecting ponts D and E. This is the
reconstructed virgin curve.

21
Example 10.3.

22
 kPa kPa

kPa kPa

Consolidation

The slopes of
consolidation curves.
The break in slope
occurs at the
preconsolidation

23
- find Cc (compression index) and/or Cr
(recompression index) as needed

- estimate the change in effective stress

() in each layer due to surface loading

- use the appropriate total settlement

equation to calculate consolidation of each
layer represented by a sample:

Compression Index (Cc)

Cc = (ea – eb) / (log(σz`)b - log(σz`)a)

Recompression Index (Cr)

Cr = (ec – ed) / (log(σz`)d - log(σz`)c)

24
 Some correlations
Correlation Region of
Applicability
Cc =0.007(LL-7) Remolded clay
Cc = 0.009(LL-10) Undisturbed clay
Cc = 1.15(e0-0.27) All clays
Cc = 0.0046(LL-9) Brazilian clays
Cc = 0.208e0+0.0083 Chicago clays

LL = Liquid Limit
e0 = in situ void ratio

25
TABLE 10.2 Classification of
Soil Compressibilityα

26
Overconsolidation ratio

pc
'
p '

OCR  
v '
v '

27
 Normally consolidated soils

H  o   
H  Cc log  
1  eo   o 
For overconsolidated soils with final stress smaller than
the preconsolidation pressure.

H  o   
H  Cr log  
1  eo  o 

28
For overconsolidated soils with final stress
greater than the preconsolidation pressure.

H  σp   σ o  Δσ 
ΔH  Cr log    Cc log  
1  eo  σ   σ 
  o  p 

- sum settlement from each layer to get total

settlement.

If the above amount of settlement is acceptable, the

calculation is over.

29
 Normally
consolidated
soils.

Overconsolidated
soils.

30
•wL = liquid limit = 40%;
•Cc = 0.009 ( wL-10)
•Ignore the settlement of sand

31
NOTE: THE SOIL IS OVERSONSOLIDATED AND THEREFORE
CONSIDER BOTH THE RECOMPRESSION AND COMPRESSION
CURVES

32
NOTE: IN THIS CASE, THE SOIL IS OVERSONSOLIDATED
BUT C’ > ZO’AS WELL AS C’ > ZO’ +  THUS CONSIDER
ONLY THE RECOMPRESSION CURVE

Example 10.5

33
34
Example 10.6

35
36
Example
10.7

37
Example 10.9

38
39