Geotechnical and Foundation Engineering

CE-3333

Consolidation Settlement

Engr. Iqbal Ahmad

Department of Civil Engineering
Capital university of Science and Technology, Islamabad
Iqbalahmad@cust.edu.pk
1
 Consolidation settlement 2

• Consolidation refers to the compression or settlement that

saturated cohesive soils undergo as a response of placing loads
onto the ground.
• These loads produce corresponding increases in the vertical
effective stress (v’).
• Consolidation is a time-dependent process, in some soils it may
take long time (100 years ?) to achieve complete settlement.
• The compression is caused by:
– Deformation of soil particles
– Relocations of soil particles
– Expulsion of water or air from void spaces
• Most of the settlement of a structure on clay is mainly due to
volumetric changes and rarely due to shear strain.
 Consolidation settlement 3

During consolidation, pore water or the water in the

voids of saturated clay gets squeezed out – reducing the
volume of the clay – hence causing settlement called as
consolidation settlement.

The spring analogy to consolidation.

Spring-cylinder model 4
Spring-cylinder model 5
Stress-time curve of spring-cylinder model 6

Valve is opened at this time

Initially
Finally
u = 
u = 0
’ = 0
’ = 
,u, ’

 = ’ + u

Time
 Types of consolidation 7

• There are three types of consolidation:

– Immediate consolidation; caused by elastic deformation
of dry soil or moist and saturated soil without change in
moisture content.
– Primary consolidation; caused as a result of volume
change in saturated cohesive soils due to exclusion of
water occupied the void spaces.
– Secondary consolidation; occurs in saturated cohesive
soils as a result of the plastic adjustment of soil fabrics.
• 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).
 Consolidation settlement 8

• Clayey soils also undergo settlement when

dewatered (e.g., ground water pumping) – because
the effective stress on the clay increases.
• 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.
Fundamentals of consolidation 9



G.W.T Sand

Clay H

depth Sand
Fundamentals of consolidation 10



G.W.T Sand

Clay H

depth Sand
Fundamentals of consolidation 11



G.W.T Sand

Clay H

depth Sand
Fundamentals of consolidation 12



G.W.T Sand

Clay H

depth Sand
 Compaction vs consolidation 13

Compaction Consolidation
Instantaneous process Time-dependent process
(applicable to all soils). (applicable to clayey soils only).
Can occur over 100s of year.

Applicable to unsaturated soils. Applicable to saturated soils.

Decrease in air voids (not water Decrease in water voids (air
voids) voids do not exist).

Dry density increases, water Dry density increases, water

content does not change content decreases.
 1-D lab consolidation test 14

1-D consolidation testing procedure was first suggested by Terzaghi.

The test is performed in consolidometer (oedometer).

~ simulation of 1-D field consolidation in lab.

GL
porous
stone
Undisturbed soil
specimen metal ring
(oedometer)
Dia = 50-75 mm
Height = 20-30 mm
field lab
Consolidation test 15
1-D lab consolidation test 16

Restored voids ratio eo of the soil sample

at depth of test

Soil expands when removed from test borehole

The deformation comes from squeezing

out water from the soil pore

The deformation comes from

crushing of the solid particles.
One-dimensional consolidation 17
One-dimensional consolidation 18
 e – log’v plot 19

Cr: recompression index

(or swelling index)
Cr
void ratio

1 loading
v’ increases &
Cc e decreases
unloading 1
Cc: compression index
v’ decreases &
e increases (swelling)
Cr
1

log v’
Cr: recompression index
(or swelling index)
 Preconsolidation pressure 20

p’ is the maximum

Cr vertical effective stress
void ratio

1
the soil element has
Cc ever been subjected to
1

Cr
1

p’ log v’

Determination of ’p 21

Casagrande
(1936) method
 H-e relation 22

H
average vertical strain =
Ho
q kPa
GL q kPa
H
GL
saturated clay saturated clay
e = eo Ho
e = eo - e
Time = 0+ Time = 
 H-e relation 23

Consider an element where Vs = 1 initially.

e
eo

Time = 0+ Time = 

e
average vertical strain =
1  eo
 H-e relation 24

Equating the two expressions for average vertical strain,

consolidation change in void ratio

settlement
H e

Ho 1  eo

initial thickness of initial void ratio

clay layer
Coefficient of volume compressibility 25

~ denoted by mv
~ is the volumetric strain in a clay element per
unit increase in stress
no
units
change in volume

original volume V
i.e., mv  V

kPa-1 or kPa or
MPa-1 MPa
 Settlement computations 26

Two different ways to estimate the

q kPa consolidation settlement:
(a) using mv
 = q
settlement = mv  H
H
(b) using e-log v’ plot
next slide
e
settlement  S c  H
1  eo
eo, vo’, Cc, Cr, p’,
mv
-oedometer test
 Settlement computations 27

If the clay is normally consolidated, the entire

loading path is along the VCL.
 vo '  '
initial e  Cc log
eo  vo '
VCL e
e Cc Sc  H s’vf
1 final 1  eo
 Cc   vo '  ' 
S c  H   log 
 1  eo   vo ' 

vo’ vf’ = vo’+ ’

 Settlement computations 28

If the clay is overconsolidated, and remains so by

the end of consolidation, note the use of Cr

CASE I: s’vo < s’vf < s’p  vo '  '

e  Cr log
 vo '
initial
Cr e
eo final
e 1 Sc  H s’vf
1  eo
VCL
 Cr   vo '  ' 
S c  H   log 
 1  eo   vo ' 
Cc
1
vo’ p’
vf’ = vo’+ 
 Settlement computations 29

If an overconsolidated clay becomes normally

consolidated by the end of consolidation, s’vf
CASE II: s’vo < s’p < s’vf
 p'  vo '  '
e  Cr log  Cc log
initial  vo '  p'
Cr
eo
1 e
e Sc  H
final 1  eo
Cc  Cr   p' 
S c  H   log 
1
 1  eo   vo ' 
VCL
vo’ p’  Cc   '   ' 
 H   log vo 
1  e   ' 
vf’ = vo’+   o  p 
Normally consolidated clay 30

If point b is to the left of point a, soil is

normally consolidated clay (Peck et al. 1974)

Current effective
overburden pressure
Overconsolidated clay 31

If point b is to the right of point a, soil is

overconsolidated clay (Peck et al. 1974)

Current effective
overburden pressure
Field consolidation line – NC clay 32
 Cc – Empirical relations 33

Skempton (1944) estabilished a relationship between Cc and

Liquid limit (wl)for remolded clays as

Terzaghi & Peck (1948) modified Skempton’s equation

Azzouz et al. (1976) proposed a no. of correlations based on the

statistical analysis of a number of soils.
Cc – Empirical relations 34
 Cc – Empirical relations 35

Rendon-Herrero (1983) relationship

Nagaraj and Murthy (1985) expressed Cc and Cs as

In most cases
Secondary consolidation 36
 Secondary consolidation 37

The magnitude of secondary consolidation can be calculated as

Example 38
Example 39
Example 40