CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMET

PROF. DR. KHALID FAROOQ

Department of Civil Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology Lahore 1
Consolidation Settlement
Piston-Spring Analogy
Stress Transfer Mechanism
 • Changes in Vertical effective stress
• Most settlement is due to changes in the vertical
effective stress, so we will begin by examining
these changes. The initial vertical effective
stress, Ϭ´zo, at a point in the soil is the value of
over burden stress, gh.
• The settlement takes place when the final
effective stress, Ϭ´zf at the point is increased,
which may be
• 1. Due to the placement of Fill over the ground
• 2. Due to the placement of building/structure at
ground surface
• 3. Due to lowering of ground water table
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Stress changes due to placement of fill

EGL
2. Stress Changes due to placement of an
External Load of building/Structures

External load, such as structural foundations,

also produce increases in Ϭ´z. In this case, Ϭ´zf is
:
Ϭ´zf = Ϭ´zo + (Ϭz)induced
Where (Ϭz)induced is the induced vertical stress.

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 3. Stress changes due to changes in the
ground water table

Initial GWT

Final GWT
Evaluation of Consolidation Parameters
 Methods of presenting consolidation test results

From e~logP curve, you determine

Comp Index, Cc, Recomp Index, Cr, Pre-consolidation pressure, sc
Field Profile and Consolidation History of a Soil
Element

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• Pre consolidation pressure
The stress/pressure to which the soil had been
subjected in its past history.

There are two cases

1. sc ~ sz it means that it is due to removal of overburden while sampling

2. sc > sz it means that the sample has been subjected to greater pressure
than the over burden, means there was past loading

Reasons for over consolidations.

1. Past structures which have been demolished now
2. Removal of overburden at the site
3. Snow loading at the site which has now been melted
4 GWT had been at lower level than the present
5. Desiccation by evaporation or plant roots or other processes which causes
negation pore pressure
6. Cementation by salt ingress etc.
7. Aging
.
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•

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• Normally Consolidated Soils (Ϭ´zo = Ϭ´c )
If Ϭ´zo = Ϭ´c , the soil is , by definition , normally
consolidated. Thus , the initial and final conditions are as
shown in Fig , and the compressibility is defined by Cc
the slope of virgin curve.

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• Normally Consolidated Soils (Ϭ´zo = Ϭ´c )
For nearly all practical problems, geotechnical
engineering evaluate the integral in Equation 11.22 by
dividing the soil into n finite layers, computing δc for
each layer, and summing

H = thickness of the soil layer

• When using equation 11.23 compute Ϭ´zo and Ϭ´zf at
the midpoint of each layer.

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• Overconsolidated Soils – Case I (Ϭ´zo ≤ Ϭ´zf ≤ Ϭ´c )
If both Ϭ´zo and Ϭ´zf do not exceed Ϭ´c , the entire
consolidated process occurs on the recompression
curve as shown in fig 11.18. The analysis is thus identical
to that for normally consolidated soils except we use the
recompression index Cr instead of the compression
index, Cc:

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• Overconsolidated Soils – Case II (Ϭ´zo ≤ Ϭ´c ≤ Ϭ´zf)

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• Overconsolidated Soils – Case II (Ϭ´zo ≤ Ϭ´c ≤ Ϭ´zf)
• If the consolidation process begins on the
recompression curve and ends on the virgin curve, as
shown in fig 11.18, then the analysis must consider both
Cc and Cr:

• This condition is quite common, because many soils

that might appear to be normally consolidated from a
geologic analysis actually have a small amount of
overconsolidation .
• When using equation 11.25 , Ϭ´zo , Ϭ´c , Ϭ´zf must be
computed at the midpoint of each layer. This means
Ϭ´c will need to be computed using equation 11.17.
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Summary

For NCC

For OCC
Case-I

For OCC
Case-II
Part-B:
Assume that the fill has been consolidated, a
strip footing with width of 3m is to be placed on
the fill at a depth of 2 m below the top surface.
Calculate the consolidation settlement if the
footing is loaded with gross pressure of 150
kPa.

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 Assignment
• Resolve all the Examples in Chapter-11
• Solve the following Problems

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