Effective Stress Total stress at point A below the soil surface is equal to (1) the stress carried by the

water in the continuous void spaces (i.e. pore water pressure, u) and (2) the stress carried by the soil solids at their points of contact (i.e. the soil skeleton). ppro!i"ately the effective stress (')
= H w + ( H A H ) sat Ws + Ww where sat = = Vtotal
= #+u (1 a )

HA

where a is the fractional surface area of solids (usually a$$1 for all practical conditions) so #+u

rearran%in% and subtractin% the pore pressure ( u = H A w , i.e. hydrostatic pressure) = [ H w + ( H A H ) sat ] H A w = ( H A H ) , where = w &o"pression of soil layers due to stress increase by construction of foundations or other loads. &o"pression is caused by' 1. (efor"ation of soil particles 2. )elocation of soil particles *. E!pulsion of water or air fro" void spaces &onsolidation + ,rocess the reduction of bulk soil volu"e under loadin% due to flow of pore water. -or saturated soils, any incre"ent of loadin% (, called surchar%e) will be initially taken up by the pore pressure and result in consolidation until a new equilibriu" is reached where the soil solids (or skeleton) takes up the added load. surchar%e' = #+u -or cohesive soils' at t . /, = u 0 t., = # -or non+cohesive soils' water drains faster and the load is transferred i""ediately &ate%ories' 1. 1""ediate settle"ent + elastic defor"ation of dry soil and "oist and saturated soils without chan%e to "oisture content a. due to hi%h per"eability, pore pressure in clays support the entire added load and no i""ediate settle"ent occurs b. %enerally, due to the construction process, i""ediate settle"ent is not i"portant 2. ,ri"ary consolidation settle"ent + volu"e chan%e in saturated cohesive soils because of the e!pulsion of water fro" void spaces a. hi%h per"eability of sandy, cohesionless soils result in near i""ediate draina%e due to the increase in pore water pressure and no pri"ary consolidation settle"ent occurs *. Secondary co"pression settle"ent + plastic ad2ust"ent of soil fabric in cohesive soils

,reconsolidation &ondition 1. nor"ally consolidated + present effective overburden pressure . "a!i"u" pressure the soil has been sub2ected to in the past (pc) 2. overconsolidated + present effective overburden pressure $ "a!i"u" pressure the soil has been sub2ected to in the past (pc)
3or"ally consolidated 4verconsolidated 5a!i"u" past load

lo% p

3on+linear rebound when load is re"oved

lo% p

pc

,reconsolidation pressure deter"ination (&asa%rande, 16*7) 1. Establish point a at which e+lo% p has "ini"u" radius of curvature 2. (raw hori8ontal line fro" a (line ab) *. (raw tan%ent to curve at a (line ac) 9. (raw line ad to bisect an%le bac :. ,ro2ect the strai%ht+line portion of gh back to intersect ad at f 7. bscissa of point f is the preconsolidation pressure, pc

<oid ratio, e

b d

pc lo% p

&alculation of ;lti"ate ,ri"ary &onsolidation Settle"ent Saturated clay soil layer of thickness H, cross+sectional area A, e!istin% overburden pressure po, increase in pressure p, and resultin% ulti"ate pri"ary consolidation settle"ent S &han%e in volu"e is V = SA , chan%e in volu"e is equal to the chan%e in volu"e of the voids (definition of settle"ent) and by the definition of the void ratio'
V = SA = Vv = eVS

;sin% the initial void ratio and total volu"e (eo and Vo) %ives VS = &o"binin% and rearran%in% %ives
V = SA = eVS = AH e 1 + eo
S =H e 1 + eo

Vo AH = 1 + eo 1 + eo

&o"pression inde! Cc . slope of the e+lo% p curve'

p o + p Cc H lo% p 1 + eo o

Cc =

e1 e2 e = p p + p lo% 2 p lo% o po 1

S=

-or thick clay, "ore accurate to divide "ultiple layers &onsider depth to 2= for square foundation (=!=) or 9= for strip foundations (=!>), = is the width
po ( i ) + p ( i ) Cc H i lo% 1 + eo po ( i )

&o"pression vs. Swell 1nde! nor"ally consolidated clays (pc . po ? p)

S =

@ood conditionA

overconsolidated clay (pc po ? p) use the Swell 1nde! (Cs) po + p CH S = s lo% 34TE' use of Cc vice Cs is conservative p 1 + eo o "ost "arine soils are overconsolidated + sedi"entation increases the surchar%e on the soil, but subsequent erosion re"oves "uch of the load underconsolidated clay (pc po ? p) () )E &43(1T143) pc C c H po + p C H S = S lo% + lo% (partially on both curves) p 1+ e p 1 + eo o c o 1f the e+lo% p plot is known, can si"ply find e over the appropriate ran%e of pressures and use S = H 1 + e (works for all conditions)
o