Consolidation Test

AIM: TO DETERMINE THE CONSOLIDATION PROPERTIES OF SOIL.

APPARATUS AND MATERIAL REQUIRED:

I. Consolidation ring: rigid, non-corrosive, inner diameter 60mm, the height of ring shall
Not be less than 20 mm with diameter to height ratio of about 3.0 and further the
Specimen height shall not be less than 10 times the maximum particle size.
II. Porous stone: flat, clean and free of cracks and chips.
III. Filter paper
IV. Teflon or silicon oil
V. Consolidation ring: capable of being filled with water to a level higher than the top of
the upper porous stone, of having an axial vertical load applied to the top of the
specimen and of allowing measurement of the change in height of the specimen on its
central axis.
VI. Dial gauge: accuracy of 0.01 percent of the specimen height and have a travels of at
least 50 percent of the specimen height.
VII. Loading device: capable of maintaining specified loads for long periods of time while
the specimen is deforming with a variation of less than ± 1 percent of the applied load.
Located on firmed base, free from vibrations and other mechanical disturbances.
VIII. Jack and frame: for extruding the soil from sampling jacks.
IX. Equipment for measuring initial height of test specimen to an accuracy of
0.1mm:verniercalipers.
X. Weighting balance sensitive to 0.01 gm: for weighing the specimen and moisture
content.
XI. Timing device readable to one second.

THEORY:

When any soil is subjected to an increase in pressure or load, a readjustment in the soil
structure occurs that may be considered as consisting primarily of plastic deformation
with a corresponding reduction in void ratio (e). a small amount of elastic deformation
may also take place, but considering the magnitude of loads (or contact pressure)
involved and that the modulus of elasticity of the soil particles is on order of 20 Mpa, the
elastic deformation recoverable on removing the load- is negligible.
When the load is applied to a dry, partially saturated, or fully saturated coarse grained
soil, or to a dry or partially saturated fine grained soil, the process of plastic deformation
with void ratio reduction takes place in short enough period of time for the process to be
considered instantaneous. This can be explained by the fact that for dry and partially
saturated soils the pore fluid has almost no viscosity or flow resistance. Similarly, if the
soil is coarse-grained the coefficient of permeability k is large and the pore water can be
quickly flow out. A consolidation test is not required in these cases.
When the load is applied to a fine-grained soil that is either nearly or completely
saturated the time for all the plastic deformation and void ratio reduction to take place is

Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.

much longer. The length of time for this process to take place will depend on several
factors, of which the primary ones are:
a) Degree of saturation
b) Coefficient of permeability of soil
c) Viscosity and compressibility of the pore fluid
d) Length of path the expelled pore fluid must take to find equilibrium.
Hence, consolidation may be defined as that plastic deformation with void ratio
reduction
(generally termed as settlement ΔH) which is a function of time and excess pore water
pressure,
or
ΔH = f (t)
One dimensional consolidation is that, with a metal ring confining the sample no lateral
soil or water movement takes place – all water flow and soil movement are in the
vertical direction.
The main purpose of consolidation test is to obtain soil data which are used in predicting
the rate and the amount of settlement of structure. The two most important soil
properties furnished by a consolidation test are the coefficient of compressibility (av),
through which one can determine the magnitude of compression and the coefficient of
consolidation (Cv) which enables the determination of the rate of compression under a
load increment. It also gives the useful information about stress history of the soil. It is
used to predict the settlements of structures in the field.

PROCEDURE:
1. Weight the empty consolidation ring (W 1)
2. Measure the dimension of the consolidation ring i.e. inside diameter and height and
calculate volume of ring.
3. Calculate the weight of soil sample according to OMC and Dry density and take soil
passing through IS sieving 425 micron.
4. Reduce the wall friction inside consolidation ring; oiling is done by Teflon or silicon oil.
Keep the consolidation ring in metal plate; fill the sample in consolidation by pressing
with circular disc by hand. Compact the sample in static compaction device and
measure initial height (Ho) and weight of soil sample with ring (W 2).
5. Assemble the consolidometer: Place the bottom porous stone, bottom filter paper,
specimen, top filter paper and the top porous stone, one by one.
6. Position the loading block centrally on the top porous stone. Mount the mould
assembly on the loading frame. Centre it such that the load applied is axial in the lever-
loading system.
7. Set the dial gauge in the position. Allow sufficient margin for the swelling of the soil.
8. Connect the mould assembly to the water reservoir having the water level at about
the same level as the soil specimen. Allow the water flow into the specimen till it is fully
saturated.
9. Take the initial reading of the dial gauge.
10. Apply an initial setting load to give a pressure of 12.5KPa to the assembly so that
there is no swelling and allow the setting load to stand till there is no change in the dial

Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.

gauge reading or for 24 hours. Take the final gauge reading under the initial setting
load.
11. Normal sequence of pressure(kpa) to be applied is
12.5,25,50,100,200,300,400,800,1200,1600,2400, and 3200 and take the dial gauge
reading after application of each load at a time sequence of 0.25, 1.0, 2.25, 4.0, 6.25,
9, 16, 20, 25, 30, 60, 120, 240,480, and finally 1440 minutes.
12. After the last load increment had been applied and the reading taken, decrease the
load to ¼ of the last load and allow it stand for 24 hours. Take the dial gauge reading
after 24hours. Further reduce the load to ¼ of the previous load and repeat the above
procedure, likewise further reduce the load to ¼ of the previous and repeat the
procedure. Finally reduce the load to the initial setting load and keep out for 24 hours
and take the final dial gauge reading.
13. Dismantle the assembly. Take out the ring with the specimen. Wipe out the excess
surface water using bloating paper and remove the filter paper both side the specimen.
14. Take weight of the ring with specimen (W 3).
15. Dry the specimen in oven for 24 hours and determine the dry weight of the
specimen.
16. Determine the specific gravity of soil from the dried specimen (W 4).

NB:USE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF 2.60

Computations part:
1. Determination of coefficient of consolidation (Cv): plot the dial gauge versus square
root of t or versus log of time for each load increment and draw smooth curve joining the
points. From using the square root of time plot, find time required to consolidate 90%
and using the log of time plot, find the time required to consolidate 50%.
Then;
→ using the square root of time plot: the coefficient of consolidation, cv, for the load
Increment under consideration may be calculated from the formula:

cv,=0.848[(H2av/2)/t90]

→Using the log of time plot:

cv,=0.197[(H2av/2)/t50]

Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.

Where;
Hav is the average specimen thickness for the load increment, and Cv has units of
(Length) 2 per unit time consistent with the units used.

2. Determination of compressibility:
From the dry weight of specimen W s, the volume of soil solids, Vs shall be obtained as:

VS=WS/(GS×γw)

Where; Gs is specific gravity of the solid particles and γw unit weight of water.
The equivalent height of soil solids can be determined as:

Hs=Vs/A

Determine ΔH, the height of specimen at the end of each pressure increment, H can be
determined by subtracting ΔH of a particular increment from H of the specimen prior to
application of that increment.

Void ratio (e) is obtained as;

e=(H/HS) - 1
Find the change in void ratio (Δe) and change in pressure (ΔP), the coefficient of
compressibility,av, with units of inverse of units for stress shall be calculated as:

av= Δe / Δp
3. Compression index, Cc:
Plot the void ratio, e versus log p. The slope of the straight line proportion that is for the
soil in the normally consolidated state in designed Cc. this can be directly obtained from
the plot or calculated as:

Cc= Δe/[log(pf/pc)]

BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE TO GUIDE YOU ON HOW TO

DO THE COMPUTATION AND DRAWING OF GRAPHS.

Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.

Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.
Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.
Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.
Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.
Prepared By: Esabella .N. Khaemba, for geotechnical laboratory.