Consolidation mechanism(Spring-Cylinder model)

CONSOLIDATION

 According to Karl Terzaghi "consolidation is any process

which involves decrease in water content of a saturated soil
without replacement of water by air.”

 Reduction in volume takes place by expulsion of water under

long term static loads. It occurs when stress is applied to a
soil that causes the soil particles to pack together more
tightly, therefore reducing its bulk volume.

 When this occurs in a soil that is saturated with water, water

will be squeezed out of the soil.

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 CONSOLIDATION

When a saturated clay is loaded externally (static),

GL

saturated clay

The water is squeezed out of the clay over a long

time (due to low permeability of the clay).
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Clayey Soil

This leads to settlements occurring over a long time,

that could be several years
settlement

time

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Granular Soil

Granular soils are freely drained, and thus the

settlement is instantaneous.
settlement

time

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Reasons

-Lowering of the ground water table

-External static loads from structures
-Self weight of recently placed soils
-Desiccation (waterlessness)

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Stages of Consolidation

The consolidation of a soil deposit can be divided into 03

stages :

(1) Initial consolidation

(2) Primary consolidation

(3) Secondary Consolidation

*When foundations are constructed on very compressible clays, the consolidation

settlement can be several times greater than the elastic settlement.
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Total Settlement , ST = Se + Sc + Ss
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Terzaghi (1925) proposed the first theory to consider the rate of
one-dimensional consolidation for saturated clay soils. The
mathematical derivations are based on the following six
assumptions (also see Taylor, 1948):

1.The clay–water system is homogeneous.

2.Saturation is complete.
3.Compressibility of water is negligible.
4.Compressibility of soil grains is negligible (but soil grains
rearrange).
5.The flow of water is in one direction only (in the direction of
compression).
6.Darcy’s law is valid.
For any soil element,

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Terzaghi’s One-dimensional

Final Solution

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Terzaghi & Fröhlich's (1936) theory of consolidation, as it is
limited to the one-dimensional field acting along the vertical
direction alone.
Soil structures imply a coefficient of horizontal permeability that is
greater than the vertical one
Kh >Kv-----------------------(1)
the consolidation must necessarily be dependent on this condition, which
may be extended also to the three-dimensional case and is more
consistent with the actual hydraulic and mechanical behavior of soils.

Two-/three-dimensional consolidation equations obtained from the

continuity equation of saturated soils. The starting point is the
continuity equation valid for saturated soils which, in the general
case, takes the following form (Lambe & Whitman, 1969):

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General Theory of Three-Dimensional Consolidation----MAURICE A. BIOT
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, Vol. 12, No. 2, 155-164, February, 1941

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When the thickness of a clay stratum is great compared with the width of the
loaded area, the consolidation of the stratum is three-dimensional. In a three-
dimensional process of consolidation the flow occurs either in radial planes or else
the water particles travel along flow lines which do not lie in planes. The problem
of this type is complicated though a general theory of three-dimensional
consolidation exists (Biot, et al., 1941).

A simple example of three-dimensional consolidation is the consolidation

of a stratum of soft clay or silt by providing sand drains and
surcharge for accelerating consolidation.

The most important example of two dimensional consolidation in

engineering practice is the consolidation of the case of a hydraulic fill
dam. In two-dimensional flow, the excess water drains out of the clay in
parallel planes. Gilboy (1934) has analyzed the two dimensional
consolidation of a hydraulic fill dam.

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Sand drains are constructed by drilling holes through the clay layer(s) in
the field at regular intervals. The holes are then backfilled with sand. This
can be achieved by several means, such as (a) rotary drilling and then
backfilling with sand; (b) drilling by continuous-flight auger with a hollow
stem and backfilling with sand (through the hollow steam); and (c) driving
hollow steel piles. The soil inside the pile is then jetted out, after which
backfilling with sand is done.

After backfilling the drill holes with sand, a surcharge is applied at the ground
surface. The surcharge will increase the pore water pressure in the clay. The excess
pore water pressure in the clay will be dissipated by drainage—both vertically and
radially to the sand drains—there by accelerating settlement of the clay layer.

In Figure, note that the radius of the sand drains is rw . Figure shows the plan of
the layout of the sand drains. The effective zone from which the radial drainage
will be directed toward a given sand drain is approximately cylindrical, with a
diameter of de. .To determine the surcharge that needs to be applied at the
ground surface and the length of time that it has to be maintained, see Figure
14.16 and use the corresponding equation, Eq. (14.15):
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 15

Figure below shows a schematic diagram of sand drains.

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Please solve the Example and Exercise of BM DAS Ch-14
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