1-25-00, Settlement and Consolidation

Ref: Principles of Geotechnical Engineering, Braa !" #as, 1$$%

Coastal Engineering &and'oo(, )"B" &er'ich, 1$$1
*opics:
Effecti+e Stress
Compression and Consolidation Process
Settlement Categories
Preconsolidation Condition
Calc,lation of Primar- Consolidation Settlement
*ime Rate of Consolidation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effecti+e Stress
*otal stress at point A 'elo. the soil s,rface is e/,al to 011 the stress carried '- the .ater
in the contin,o,s +oid spaces 0i"e" pore .ater press,re, u1 and 021 the stress carried '- the
soil solids at their points of contact 0i"e" the soil s(eleton1" 2ppro3imatel- the effective
stress 0'1
( )
sat A w
H H H +
.here
total
w s
sat
V
W W +

( ) a u + 1 4
.here a is the fractional s,rface area of solids 0,s,all- a551 for all
practical conditions1 so u + 4
rearranging and s,'tracting the pore press,re 0 w A
H u
, i"e" h-drostatic press,re1
( ) [ ] ( ) + H H H H H H
A w A sat A w
, .here
w

Compression of soil la-ers d,e to stress increase '- constr,ction of fo,ndations or other loads"
Compression is ca,sed '-:
1" #eformation of soil particles
2" Relocation of soil particles
6" E3p,lsion of .ater or air from +oid spaces
Consolidation - Process the red,ction of ',l( soil +ol,me ,nder loading d,e to flo. of pore
.ater" 7or sat,rated soils, an- increment of loading 0, called s,rcharge1 .ill 'e initiall- ta(en
,p '- the pore press,re and res,lt in consolidation ,ntil a ne. e/,ili'ri,m is reached .here the
soil solids 0or s(eleton1 ta(es ,p the added load"
s,rcharge: u + 4
A
H
A
H
7or cohesi+e soils: at t 8 0, u 9 t8, 4
7or non-cohesi+e soils: .ater drains faster and the load is transferred immediatel-
Categories:
1" :mmediate settlement - elastic deformation of dr- soil and moist and sat,rated soils
.itho,t change to moist,re content
a" d,e to high permea'ilit-, pore press,re in cla-s s,pport the entire added load and no
immediate settlement occ,rs
'" generall-, d,e to the constr,ction process, immediate settlement is not important
2" Primar- consolidation settlement - +ol,me change in sat,rated cohesi+e soils 'eca,se of
the e3p,lsion of .ater from +oid spaces
a" high permea'ilit- of sand-, cohesionless soils res,lt in near immediate drainage d,e
to the increase in pore .ater press,re and no primar- consolidation settlement occ,rs
6" Secondar- compression settlement - plastic ad,stment of soil fa'ric in cohesi+e soils
Preconsolidation Condition
1" normall- consolidated - present effecti+e o+er',rden press,re 8 ma3im,m press,re the
soil has 'een s,'ected to in the past 0pc1
2" o+erconsolidated - present effecti+e o+er',rden press,re 5 ma3im,m press,re the soil
has 'een s,'ected to in the past 0pc1
e
log p
;ormall- consolidated
e
log p
<+erconsolidated
p
c
!a3im,m
past load
;on-linear
re'o,nd .hen
load is remo+ed
Preconsolidation press,re determination
0Casagrande, 1$6=1
1. Esta'lish point a at .hich e-log p has
minim,m radi,s of c,r+at,re
2. #ra. hori>ontal line from a 0line ab1
3. #ra. tangent to c,r+e at a 0line ac1
4. #ra. line ad to 'isect angle bac
5. Proect the straight-line portion of gh
'ac( to intersect ad at f
6. 2'scissa of point f is the
preconsolidation press,re, pc
log p
?
o
i
d

r
a
t
i
o
,

e
a
h
b
c
d
f
pc
g
Calc,lation of @ltimate Primar- Consolidation Settlement
Sat,rated cla- soil la-er of thic(ness H, cross-sectional area A, e3isting o+er',rden
press,re po, increase in press,re p, and res,lting ,ltimate primar- consolidation
settlement
Change in +ol,me is A V , change in +ol,me is e/,al to the change in +ol,me of the
+oids 0definition of settlement1 and '- the definition of the +oid ratio:
v
eV V A V
@sing the initial +oid ratio and total +ol,me 0eo and Vo1 gi+es
o o
o

e
AH
e
V
V
+

1 1
Com'ining and rearranging gi+es
e
e
AH
eV A V
o

+

1

o
e
e
H
+

1
Compression inde3 !c 8 slope of the e-log p c,r+e:

,
_

,
_

o
o
c
p
p p
e
p
p
e e
!
log log
1
2
2 1

,
_

+
+

o
o
o
c
p
p p
e
H !
log
1
7or thic( cla-, more acc,rate to di+ide m,ltiple la-ers
Consider depth to 2B for s/,are fo,ndation 0B3B1 or %B for strip fo,ndations
0B3A1, B is the .idth
Compression +s" S.ell :nde3
normall- consolidated cla-s 0pc 8 po B p"
( ) ( )
( )

,
_

+
+

i o
i i o
o
i c
p
p p
e
H !
log
1
o+erconsolidated cla- 0pc po B p1 ,se the S.ell :nde3 0!s1

,
_

+
+

o
o
o
s
p
p p
e
H !
log
1
;<*E: ,se of !c +ice !s is conser+ati+e
most marine soils are o+erconsolidated - sedimentation increases the s,rcharge on
the soil, ',t s,'se/,ent erosion remo+es m,ch of the load
,nderconsolidated cla- 0pc po B p1 0R2RE C<;#:*:<;1

,
_

+
+
+

,
_

c
o
o
c
o
c
o

p
p p
e
H !
p
p
e
H !
log
1
log
1
0partiall- on 'oth c,r+es1
:f the e-log p plot is (no.n, can simpl- find e o+er the appropriate range of
press,res and ,se
o
e
e
H
+

1
0.or(s for all conditions1
Good
conditionC
Compression inde3 determination
1" Graphicall- from la'orator- e-log p plot, ,se D+irgin compression c,r+eD 0i"e"
straight line portion of the c,r+e1
2" Rendon-&errero 01$E61
6E " 2
2 " 1
1
1%1 " 0

,
_

s
o
s c
#
e
# !
6" ;agara and !,rt- 01$E51
( )
s c
#
$$
!
1
]
1

100
F
26%6 " 0
S.ell :nde3G determined from la' tests, generall-
! !
! ! !
5
1
10
1
to
*ime Rate of Consolidation
#eri+ation ass,mptions
1" &omogeneo,s cla--.ater s-stem
2" Sat,rated
6" Hater and soil grains are incompressi'le
%" 7lo. of .ater is ,nidirectional and in the direction of consolidation
5" #arc-4s la. ass,med - i% v , v 8 discharge +elocit-, % 8 coeff of
permea'ilit-, i 8 h-dra,lic gradient,
$ h i
2&
dr
cla-
sand
sand
>
h 8 ,I
.
p
d3
d-
d>
+
>
d3d-
J+
>
B 0d+
>
Id>1d>Kd3d-
Jrate of .ater o,tflo.K - Jrate of .ater inflo.K 8 Jrate of change of +ol,meK
restrict flo. to +ertical 0>1 direction 0ass,mption %1
t
V
d&d' v d&d' d(
(
v
v
(
(
(

,
_

+
t
V
d&d'd(
(
v
(

#arc-4s la. gi+es

(
u
%
(
h
% %i v
(

since
h u
w

com'ining gi+es
t
V
d&d'd( (
u %
w

1
2
2
d,ring settlement
( )
t
e
e
d&d'd(
t
eV V
t
V
t
V
o
v

1
, since 0

t
V

and
o o

e
d&d'd(
e
V
V
+

1 1

t
e
e (
u %
o w

1
1
2
2
ass,me that the decrease in +oid ratio is proportional to the increase in effecti+e stress 0or
the decrease in pore press,re1
u a e
v

, av 8 coeff" of compressi'ilit-
define the coeff" of +ol,me compressi'ilit-
o
v
v
e
a
)
+

1
t
u
)
(
u %
v
w

2
2
, define coeff" of consolidation
v w
v
)
%
c

t
u
c
(
u
v

2
2
,
sol+ing gi+es a time factor
2
dr
v
v
H
t c
*
estimate )v from e-log p plot at appropriate press,res,
p
e
e
)
av
v

1
1
,
2
2 1
e e
e
av
+

Variation of Degree of Consolidation with Time Factor

0
0"1
0"2
0"6
0"%
0"5
0"=
0"L
0"E
0"$
1
0"001 0"01 0"1 1
Time Factor, T
v
=C
v
t/H
2
d
e
g
r
e
e

o
f

c
o
n
s
o
l
i
d
a
t
i
o
n
,

U
(
%

/
!
"
"
Si+aram M S.amee 01$LL1 empirical relationship for @ 0degree of settlement1 from 0-100F
1L$ " 0
E " 2
%
1
%
100
F
1
1
]
1

,
_

v
v
*
*
+
and
65L " 0
= " 5
2
100
F
1
100
F
%
1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

,
_

+
+
*
v