D

A C

E B

pc log ( ’)

Figure 8 Casagrande’s construction for estimating preconsolidation pressure

Steps in the construction are given below:

1. Determine the point of maximum curvature A. (It’s important to draw the graph to a sensible
scale)

2. Draw a tangent to the curve at A, i.e. line AB.

3. Draw a horizontal line at A, i.e. line AC.

4. Draw the extension of the straight line (normally consolidated) portion of the curve DE.

5. Where the line DE cuts the bisector (AF) of angle CAB, is the preconsolidation stress.

For a normally consolidated soil the preconsolidation stress will be the same as the vertical
overburden stress (due to weight of overlying soil) existing at the depth from which the sample was
taken. Some unloading of the sample will take place during sampling so that a preconsolidation
stress may be detected upon reloading in the oedometer at the point where the soil is loaded back to
the stress state existing in the ground.

An overconsolidated soil will exhibit a preconsolidation stress which is much larger than the
overburden stress at the level from which it was sampled.

9.5 Idealised soil behaviour

The behaviour shown in Figures 5 to 7 may be idealised by simple linear relationships in a void
ratio, e, logarithm of effective stress, ´, plot as shown in Figure 9. This idealisation is based on
observations that:

1. the behaviour of most normally consolidated soils can be approximated by straight lines for the
range of stresses that are of interest.
9.7
2. the response of most over-consolidated soils can be approximated by straight lines, and further:

the behaviour is assumed to be reversible, unloading and reloading follow the same path

the slope of the unload-reload response is constant

log ( ’)
Figure 9 Idealised void ratio, effective stress relationship

9.6 Compression and Recompression Indexes

Figure 10 shows a portion of the e - log plot for a normally consolidated soil.

I
eI

eF F

log10 ( I ) log10 ( F)

Figure 10 Idealised response for NC soil

Fig. 9 Idealised behaviour of a normally consolidated soil
Suppose that a soil is in an initial state I and after loading moves to the final state F, as shown in
Figure 10.

9.8