Estimating Consolidation Coefficient and Final Settlement:

Triangular Excess Pore-Water Pressure

Sushil K. Singh1
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Abstract: The exact analytical solutions for the one-dimensional transient consolidation settlement of clay under triangular loadings of
pore-water pressure are presented. Using these solutions, two new methods, a “diagnostic curve” method and a “peak derivative” method
are developed for a simultaneous estimation of the coefficient of consolidation and final consolidation settlement. The diagnostic curve
method uses a master diagnostic curve for matching and the peak derivative method requires locating the peak of a unimodal curve. The
proposed methods require only a few but adequate observations of settlements. The peak derivative method has a high diagnostic property
for identifying a nonideal condition.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1090-0241共2005兲131:8共1050兲
CE Database subject headings: Soil consolidation; Pore water pressure; Settlement; Clays.

Introduction under triangular loadings of pore-water pressure is made for an

Consolidation of a clay layer takes place under the influence of an
applied load. The applied load introduces excess pore-water pres-
sure in the clay layer, which dissipates slowly and results in con-
solidation settlement. In a conventional laboratory consolidation
test, the initial pore-water pressure distribution with depth 共load-
ing of pore-water pressure兲 is rectangular or uniform. Different
loadings of pore-water pressure may occur in different field con-
ditions 共e.g., see Jumikis 1962兲. Triangular loadings occur in the
case of an earthen dam or embankment on an impermeable layer,
construction of a tunnel or gallery through the soil, footings rest-
ing on clay underlain by pervious strata, hydraulic fills, etc. One-
dimensional triangular pore pressure is observed in consolidation
of a clay layer caused by a sudden lowering of the groundwater
table underneath this layer 共see Lambe and Whitman 1969, pp.
393–394兲. The importance of the time-consolidation curve
共U versus T curve, U⫽average degree of consolidation, T⫽time
factor兲 is well recognized in the analysis of transient settlement.
Terzaghi and Frohlich 共1936兲 have tabulated the U-T values for
the basic triangular loading 共see Jumikis 1962兲 considering one-
dimensional consolidation. These values seem to have been repro-
duced in tabular or graphical form in several textbooks 共e.g.,
Craig 1974, pp. 186–187 and Perloff and Baron 1976, pp. 327–
330兲. Apparently, there has been no attempt to check these values.
No method is available for estimation of coefficient of consolida-
tion and final consolidation settlement, from field data or labora-
tory data, in the case of triangular loadings of pore-water pres-
sure. If in the field or in the laboratory, measurement of settlement
1
adequate time, the coefficient of consolidation and final consoli-
dation settlement 共that would occur兲 can be estimated.
This paper presents the exact analytical solutions for the one-
dimensional transient settlement under triangular loadings of
pore-water pressure. Using these solutions, two new methods are
developed for a simultaneous estimation of coefficient of consoli-
dation and final settlement, from field or laboratory data.
Triangular Loading
The partial differential equation governing the dissipation of ex-
cess pore-water pressure in a laterally confined clay layer under a
sustained load is written as
⳵ 2u ⳵ u
c␯ = 共1兲
⳵ z2 ⳵ t
where c␯⫽coefficient of one-dimensional consolidation, which
may be defined as pore-water pressure diffusivity; t⫽time mea-
sured since the application of loading; u⫽excess pore-water pres-
sure; and z⫽distance measured downward from the top of the
clay layer. Eq. 共1兲 is applicable for one-dimensional primary con-
solidation and does not consider secondary consolidation. It also
assumes that the soil is fully saturated and no displacement takes
place in a lateral direction. The boundary condition is u共0 , t兲 = 0.
In the case of a triangular loading, the average degree of consoli-
dation can be obtained using

冕冉 冊
Scientist, National Institute of Hydrology Roorkee, Roorkee 247 667,
H
Uttar Anchal, India. E-mail: sukusil@yahoo.com ␳ 1 2u
Note. Discussion open until January 1, 2006. Separate discussions U= = 1− dz 共2兲
␳f H 0 u0
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this technical note was submitted for review where U⫽average degree of consolidation 关dimensionless兴;
and possible publication on January 8, 2003; approved on January 6, u0⫽base of triangular excess pore-water pressure; H⫽thickness
2005. This technical note is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and of clay layer; ␳⫽settlement at any time; and ␳ f ⫽final consolida-
Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 131, No. 8, August 1, 2005. tion settlement. The triangular loadings can be classified into
©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/2005/8-1050–1055/$25.00. basic triangular loading and reverse triangular loading.

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 Basic Triangular Loading with Single Way Drainage
In a basic triangular loading, the apex is on the permeable face
共drainage face兲 and the base is on the impermeable face 共face with
no drainage兲. The initial excess pore-water pressure is given by

z
u共z,0兲 = u0 共3兲
H
The analytical solution for the degree of consolidation in the
case of a basic triangular loading is obtained as
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⬁
32 共− 1兲n+1 共2n − 1兲2␲2T
U=1− 兺
␲3 n=1 共2n − 1兲3
exp−
4
共4兲

c ␯t
T= 共5兲
d2

where T⫽time factor 关dimensionless兴; and d⫽shortest length of

effective drainage path 关L兴. For the present case, d = H.

Fig. 1. Variation of U with T for triangular loadings

Reverse Triangular Loading with Single Way Drainage
In a reverse triangular loading, the base rests on a permeable face
共drainage face兲 and the apex is on the impermeable face 共face Diagnostic Curve Method
with no drainage兲. The excess pore-water pressure is given by
Basic Triangular Loading

冉 冊
u共z,0兲 = 1 −
z
H
u0 共6兲 Substituting U from Eq. 共2兲 into Eq. 共4兲 and differentiating with
respect to t
The analytical solution for average degree of consolidation, in 1 d␳ c␯
the case of a reverse triangular loading, is obtained as = f b共T兲 共9兲
␳ f dt d2

冉 冊
⬁
16 1 2 共− 1兲n 共2n − 1兲2␲2T ⬁
U=1− 兺
␲ n=1 共2n − 1兲
2 2 +
␲ 共2n − 1兲 3 exp −
4 f b共T兲 =
8
兺
共− 1兲n+1
exp −
共2n − 1兲2␲2T
共10兲
␲ n=1 共2n − 1兲 4
共7兲
The variation of f b共T兲 with T is shown in Fig. 2. It is observed
In this case, d = H. from Eqs. 共5兲 and 共9兲 that the unique plot of f b共T兲 versus T on a

Triangular Loadings with Both Way Drainages

The analytical solution for the average degree of consolidation, in
the case where the basic or reverse triangular loading are the
same, if the condition of both way drainage exists 共i.e., both top
and bottom boundaries are permeable and allow drainage兲, is ob-
tained as

⬁
8 1 共2n − 1兲2␲2T
U=1− 2 兺
␲ n=1 共2n − 1兲 2 exp −
4
共8兲

For the triangular loadings with both way drainage, d = H / 2.

Eq. 共8兲 is the same as obtained for a rectangular loading. There-
fore, in the cases of triangular loadings with both way drainage,
the coefficient of consolidation can be estimated using the meth-
ods applicable for the rectangular loading of pore-water pressure.
The U-T curve for reverse triangular loading, as obtained
using the proposed solution, is shown in Fig. 1 along with the
tabulated values of Terzaghi and Frohlich 共1936兲 共taken from
Jumikis 1962兲 and the digitized values from the graphs given by
Craig 共1974兲. It is observed that the previously reported values of
U are inexact for low values of T. Fig. 2. Variation of f b and f r with T

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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2005, 131(8): 1050-1055

 double logarithmic paper 共master diagnostic curve兲 is the same as
that of d␳ / dt versus t on a double logarithmic paper, with axis
scales remaining the same for the two graphs with a parallel shift
of the axes. Therefore, in the diagnostic plot, points plotted as
d␳ / dt versus t on a double logarithmic paper can be made to
conform to the master diagnostic curve by superposing the two
graphs with a parallel shift of axes. The reliably accurate value
d␳ / dt can be obtained using the following approximation 共see
Singh 2001兲:

冏 冏 d␳
dt t̄
⬵
␳ j+2 − ␳ j
t j+2 − t j
共11兲
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t j + t j+2
t̄ = 共12兲
2
The parameters c␯ and ␳ f can be estimated from the dual co-
ordinates of a selected point on the matched portion of the graphs
using the following equations:
Tm
c␯ = d2 共13兲
tm

冉 冊
Fig. 3. Variation Fb and Fr with T
d␳
tm dt m
␳f = 共14兲
Tm f b共Tm兲 peak of a unimodal curve. Thus the data up to the peak are re-
quired. Since the estimates of the parameters are based on a single
where m refers to the selected match point. If a point correspond- point 共the peak兲, we are able to identify a nonideal condition and
ing to Tm = 1 and f b共Tm兲 = 1 is selected as the match point, the validate the estimated parameters in a better way. If data around
calculation is simplified the peak are corrupted with large noise, the peak cannot be lo-
d2 cated accurately. With the estimated values of the parameters, the
c␯ = 共15兲 derivatives 共td␳ / dt兲 are calculated and compared to the observed
tm
derivatives; if a substantial departure between the two curves is

冉 冊
observed for the data before the peak, then the nonideal condition
d␳
␳ f = tm 共16兲 is confirmed; otherwise the estimated parameters are validated. A
dt m nonideal condition is one that is different from that assumed while
The proposed method does not require, explicitly or implicitly, deriving the solution.
the value of ␳ f for the estimation of c␯; rather an estimate of ␳ f
can be obtained. Basic Triangular Loading
Eq. 共9兲 can be rewritten as
Reverse Triangular Loading
d␳
Substituting U from Eq. 共2兲 into Eq. 共7兲 and differentiating with t = ␳ f Fb共T兲 共19兲
respect to t dt

1 d␳ c␯ ⬁
= f r共T兲 共17兲 8T 共− 1兲n+1 共2n − 1兲2␲2T
␳ f dt d2 Fb共T兲 = 兺
␲ i=1 共2n − 1兲
exp −
4
共20兲

冉 冊
⬁
2 共− 1兲n 共2n − 1兲2␲2T
f r共T兲 = 4 兺
n=1
1+
␲ 共2n − 1兲
exp −
4
共18兲 The variation of Fb共T兲 with T is shown in Fig. 3. The peak of
the Fb共T兲 versus T curve is defined by T p = 0.40528 and
Fb共T p = 0.379669兲, where the subscript p refers to the peak. The
The f r共T兲 versus T curve 共Fig. 2兲 can be designated as the reliably accurate values of td␳ / dt can be obtained using Eqs. 共11兲
master diagnostic curve for a reverse triangular loading. The pro- and 共12兲, and the following equation:
cedure developed for the estimation of c␯ and ␳ f in the case of a
basic triangular loading also applies to a reverse triangular load-
ing. Eqs. 共15兲 and 共16兲 can be used with f r共T兲 in place of f b共T兲. 冉 冊 冉 冊
t
d␳
dt t̄
⬵ t̄
d␳
dt t̄
共21兲

When td␳ / dt is plotted against t, a unimodal curve can be

Peak Derivative Method
The peak derivative method does not require a master diagnostic
curve and its matching with the observed diagnostic plot. In this
method, the parameters can be identified explicitly by locating the
sketched through the plotted points and the peak can be located.
In principle, any type of graph, double logarithmic, semilogarith-
mic, or simple, can be used for locating the peak. Let the coordi-
nates of the peak be 共t p , DR p兲. Once the peak is identified, the
estimate of cv and ␳ f can be obtained using

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 Table 1. Data and Calculation of Derivatives
No error Small error Large error

t t̄ ␳ d␳ / dt t d␳ / dt ␳ d␳ / dt t d␳ / dt ␳ d␳ / dt t d␳ / dt
192.0 — 87.42 — — 87.48 — — 87.24 — —
216.0 216 96.18 0.3548 76.6 96.16 0.3521 76.0 96.15 0.3577 77.3
240.0 246 104.45 0.3270 80.4 104.38 0.3278 80.6 104.41 0.3250 79.9
276.0 276 115.80 0.3014 83.2 115.83 0.3031 83.6 115.65 0.3012 83.1
312.0 318 126.15 0.2702 85.9 126.20 0.2690 85.6 126.10 0.2724 86.6
360.0 360 138.50 0.2417 87.0 138.43 0.2410 86.8 138.53 0.2419 87.1
408.0 414 149.35 0.2093 86.6 149.34 0.2093 86.6 149.32 0.2097 86.8
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468.0 468 161.10 0.1817 85.1 161.03 0.1818 85.1 161.18 0.1819 85.1
528.0 534 171.16 0.1531 81.8 171.16 0.1534 81.9 171.15 0.1524 81.4
600.0 — 181.31 — — 181.28 — — 181.30 — —
Note: t , t̄ , ␳ , d␳ / dt, and t d␳ / dt are in month, month, mm, mm/month, and mm, respectively.

d2 data are given in Table 1. The data pertains to c␯ = 2.5

c␯ = 0.405 共22兲 ⫻ 10−2 cm2 / min, ␳ f = 230 mm, H = 10 m, and u0 = 1.846
tp
⫻ 104 kg/ m2. The data were generated using the analytical solu-
tion, i.e., Eq. 共4兲. The uniformly distributed random noises be-
␳ f = 2.634DR p 共23兲 tween 0 and 1 were generated and introduced to the data after
multiplying by a factor. Since the settlement is not a static pro-
cess, random noises were introduced with a small value of the
Reverse Triangular Loading multiplying factor. This factor was taken to be equal to 0.05 and
0.1 for the small and large errors, respectively. The relative mag-
Eq. 共17兲 can be rewritten as
nitude of errors in relation to the settlement is shown in Fig. 4. A
possible large time-step size was selected to test the methods. A
d␳
t = ␳ f Fr共T兲 共24兲 small time-step size may yield more accurate results. The calcu-
dt lations for derivatives are also given in Table 1; it is observed that
the calculated derivatives are only marginally affected by the

冉 冊
⬁ moderate noise in the data. Diagnostically plotted points are
2 共− 1兲n 共2n − 1兲2␲2T
Fr共T兲 = 4T 兺
i=1
1+
␲ 共2n − 1兲
exp −
4
共25兲 matched with the master diagnostic curve in Fig. 5. A match point
is selected having Tm = 1 and f b共Tm兲 = 1; the corresponding
coordinates of the diagnostic plot are tm = 930 month and
The Fr共T兲 versus T is a unimodal curve 共Fig. 3兲, the peak of
d␳ / dt = 0.247 mm/ month. Using Eqs. 共15兲 and 共16兲,
which is defined by T p = 0.40528 and Fr共T p兲 = 0.21671, where the
cv = 2.49⫻ 10−2 cm2 / min and ␳ f = 22.97 cm, which are very close
subscript p refers to the peak. When td␳ / dt is plotted against t, a
unimodal curve can be sketched through the plotted points and
the peak can be located. Once the peak is obtained, the estimate
of c␯ and ␳ f can be obtained using

d2
c␯ = 0.405 共26兲
tp

␳ f = 4.614DR p 共27兲
The proposed methods can also be applied to laboratory data
obtained under triangular loading of excess pore-water pressure.
In that case, ␳ and ␳ f are replaced by a dial reading at any time
and the difference of initial and final dial readings, respectively. It
is observed from Figs. 2 and 3 that the unimodal curves shown in
Fig. 2 have a better diagnostic property. In the case of large strain,
the proposed methods may not be applicable.

Application

The application of the proposed methods is illustrated using syn-

thetic data sets with no error, small error, and large errors for a
basic triangular loading. Errors were introduced to judge the per-
formance of the methods in the presence of noise. The settlement Fig. 4. Magnitude of errors in relation to settlement

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 Conclusions

The analytical solutions for one-dimensional transient consolida-

tion under triangular loadings of pore-water pressure are pre-
sented. The basic and reverse triangular loadings have been con-
sidered. Two new methods, a diagnostic curve and a peak
derivative, have been developed to simultaneously estimate the
coefficient of consolidation and final consolidation settlement
from the observed settlements 共in the field or in the laboratory兲
under these loadings. The diagnostic curve method uses matching
of plotted points with a master diagnostic curve and the peak
derivative method requires locating the peak of a unimodal curve.
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The peak derivative method is also able to identify nonideal con-

ditions and validate the estimated parameters. The proposed
methods yield reliably accurate estimates for the data and magni-
tude of errors considered.

Appendix. Derivation of Eqs. „11… and „21…

Fig. 5. Matching of diagnostic plot with master diagnostic curve Let a discrete parabola of the form a + bt + ct2 be fitted through the
consecutive points 关共t j , ␳ j兲 , 共t j+1 , ␳ j+1兲 , 共t j+2 , ␳ j+2兲兴; then the con-
stants a , b, and c are determined from the three equations. The
derivative of the fitted parabola at t̄ = 共t j + t j+2兲 / 2 is obtained as

to the respective assumed values. The unimodal curves, for the

application of the peak derivative method for all three sets of
data, are shown in Fig. 6. The coordinates of the peak are ob- 冏 冏
d␳
dt t̄
=
␳ j+2 − ␳ j
t j+2 − t j
共28兲
tained as t p = 372 month and DR p = 88 mm, which yield c␯ = 2.52
⫻ 10−2 cm2 / min and ␳ f = 23.18 cm. Thus the proposed methods and td␳ / dt at t̄ = 共t j + t j+2兲 / 2 is obtained as
yield accurate estimates of the parameters, which are very close to
the respective assumed values and are acceptably insensitive to
the reasonable errors in the data.
冉 冊 冉 冊
t
d␳
dt t̄
⬵ t̄
d␳
dt t̄
共29兲

Eqs. 共28兲 and 共29兲, are the same as Eqs. 共11兲 and 共21兲,
respectively.

Notation

The following symbols are used in this technical note:

c␯ ⫽ consolidation coefficient 关L2 T−1兴;
d ⫽ shortest length of effective drainage path 关L兴;
F,f ⫽ functions 关dimensionless兴;
H ⫽ thickness of clay layer 关L兴;
T ⫽ time factor 关dimensionless兴;
t ⫽ time 关T兴;
U ⫽ average degree of consolidation 关dimensionless兴;
u0 ⫽ initial excess pore-water pressure at base of triangle
关M T−2兴;
z ⫽ distance measured downward 关L兴;
␳ ⫽ consolidation settlement at any time 关L兴; and
␳ f ⫽ final consolidation settlement 关L兴.
Subscripts
b ⫽ basic triangular loading;
f ⫽ final settlement;
p ⫽ peak; and
Fig. 6. Locating the peak r ⫽ reverse triangular loading.

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 References
Craig, R. F. 共1974兲. Soil mechanics, Van Nostrand-Reinhold, New York,
186–187.
Jumikis, A. R. 共1962兲. Soil mechanics, Van Nostrand, New York, 415–
418.
Lambe, T. W., and Whitman, R. V. 共1969兲. Soil mechanics, Wiley, New
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 03/11/21. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
York, 393–394.
Perloff, W. H., and Baron, W. 共1976兲. Soil mechanics, principles, and
application, Ronald, New York, 327–330.
Singh, S. K. 共2001兲. “Confined aquifer parameters from temporal deriva-
tive of drawdowns.” J. Hydraul. Eng., 127共6兲, 466–470.
Terzaghi, K. and Frohlich, O. K. 共1936兲. Theorie der setzung von Ton-
schichten, Leipzig and Wein, Franz Deuticke, Vienna, Austria, 2–2.

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