CONSOLIDATION OF SOIL

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INTRODUCTION
 When soil mass is subjected to a
compressive forces, its volume
decreases.
 The property of soil which
decreases it’s volume is known as
compressibility of soil.
 Causes of compression:
 Compression of solid particles and
water in voids
 Expulsion of air in the voids
 Expulsion of water in voids
 When soil is fully saturated,
compression of soil occurs mainly
due to expulsion of water.
 The compression of a saturated
soil, under steady static pressure is
known as ‘Consolidation’.
 It is entirely due to expulsion of 2
water from the voids.
COMPRESSIBILITY OF SATURATED SOIL

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 As the consolidation of soils occurs, the water escapes.
 The solid particles shift from one position to other by
rolling and sliding and attain a closer packing.
 The decrease in volume of soil occurs not due to
compression of solids or water but it is due to the shifting of
positions of the particle as the water escapes.

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REASONS FOR CONSOLIDATION
 Lowering of the ground water table
 External static loads from structures

 Self weight of recently placed soil

 Desiccation

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STAGES OF CONSOLIDATION
 The consolidation of a soil deposit can be divided into 3
stages.
1. Initial Consolidation: The reduction in volume of the soil
just after the application of the load.
2. Primary Consolidation: After initial consolidation, further
reduction in volume occurs due to expulsion of water from
voids. The decrease depends upon the permeability of the
soil and time dependent.
 In fine grained soils, the primary consolidation occurs over a long
time, whereas in coarse grained soil it occurs quickly.
3. Secondary consolidation: The reduction in volumes
continues at a very slow rate after completion primary
consolidation. It is attributed to the plastic readjustment of
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solid particles.
SPRING ANALOGY FOR PRIMARY
CONSOLIDATION

 The process of primary

consolidation can be
explained with the help of
the spring analogy.
 Let the initial length of
spring be 100mm and
stiffness of spring be
10mm/N.
 Assume that piston is
weightless and the spring
and water are initially free
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to stress.
 When load P(=1N) is
applied to piston with
closed valve, the entire
weight is taken by water
and no load taken by
spring.
 Pw + Ps = P………(1)

 Pw + Ps = 1………(2)

 Initially (t=0) when valve

is closed,
Ps=0.00 that’s why Pw=1.0

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 If the valve is gradually
opened, water starts escaping
from cylinder. The spring
starts sharing some load and
decrease in its length.
 When a portion (P) of the
load is transferred from water
to spring, eq. (2)
 P + (1.0 - P)=1.0
 As more and more water
escapes, the load carried by
the spring increases.
 Eventually when steady
conditions are established, the
water stops escaping.
 Finally, at time t = tf, the
entire load is taken by spring.
Thus Pw = 0 and Ps = 1.00. 10
CONSOLIDATION TEST

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CONSOLIDOMETER

 Used to measure consolidation of saturated clay water system.

 Also called Oedometer.

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The soil specimen is placed in cell between top and bottom porous
stones.
1. Floating or free ring cell: in which both the top and bottom
porous stones are free to move. The top one can move downward
and the bottom one can move upward to consolidate the sample.
2. Fixed ring cell: in which the bottom porous stone cannot move.
Only the top porous stone can move downward to consolidate
the specimen. 13
 The soil sample is contained in the brass ring between
two porous stones about 1.25 cm thick. by means of the
porous stones water has free access to and from both
surfaces of the specimen.
 The compressive load is applied to the specimen through
a piston, either by means of a hanger and dead weights
or by a system of levers. The compression is measured on
a dial gauge.
 At the bottom of the soil sample the water expelled from
the soil flows through the filter stone into the water
container.
 At the top, a well-jacket filled with water is placed
around the stone in order to prevent excessive
evaporation from the sample during the test.
 Water from the sample also flows into the jacket through
the upper filter stone. The soil sample is kept submerged 14
in a saturated condition during the test.
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 Loads are applied in steps in such a way that the successive load
intensity, p, is twice the preceding one. The load intensities commonly
used being 1/4, 1/2,1, 2,4, 8, and 16 tons/ft2 (25, 50,100,200,400, 800 and
1600 kN/m2).
 Each load is allowed to stand until compression has practically ceased (no
longer than 24 hours). The dial readings are taken at elapsed times of 1/4,
1/2, 1,2,4, 8,15, 30, 60, 120, 240, 480 and 1440 minutes from the time the
new increment of load is put on the sample (or at elapsed times as per
requirements).
 Sandy samples are compressed in a relatively short time as compared to
clay samples and the use of one day duration is common for the latter.
 After the greatest load required for the test has been applied to the soil
sample, the load is removed in decrements to provide data for plotting the
expansion curve of the soil in order to learn its elastic properties and
magnitudes of plastic or permanent deformations.
 The following data should also be obtained:
 Moisture content and weight of the soil sample before the commencement of
the test.
 Moisture content and weight of the sample after completion of the test.
 The specific gravity of the solids.
 The temperature of the room where the test is conducted 16
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NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED SOIL:
•Which are loaded 1st time in the history to the present

applied effective stress.

•Such soils are more compressible representing high

settlement of loading.

OVER CONSOLIDATED SOIL:

•Which are loaded in the past history.

•Past applied effective stress is more than present

applied effective stress.

•Such soils are less compressible and more stable. 18

OVER CONSOLIDATION RATIO (OCR)

 OCR =

1.For Over Consolidated Soil OCR > 1

2.For Heavily Over Consolidated Soil OCR > > 1

3.For Normally Consolidated Soil OCR ≤1

Maximum value of OCR for normally consolidated soil is 1.

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DETERMINATION FROM CONSOLIDATION
TEST
1. Calculate the initial water content and specific gravity
of the soil.
2. For each pressure increment, construct a semilog plot
of the consolidation dial readings versus the log time
(in minutes).
3. Determine D0, D50, D100, and the coefficient of
consolidation (cv) using Casagrande’s logarithm of time
fitting method.
4. Calculate the void ratio at the end of primary
consolidation for each pressure increment (see example
data). Plot log pressure versus void ratio.
5. Based on this plot, calculate compression index,
recompression index and preconsolidation pressure
(maximum past pressure).
6. Summarize and discuss the results.
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DETERMINATION OF VOID
). RATIO AT
VARIOUS LOAD INCREMENTS
 Height of Solids method:
 In this method, equivalent height of solids is
determined from the dry mass of soil.

Hs =

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 PRESSURE-VOID RATIO CURVES
 The pressure-void ratio curve can be obtained if the void ratio of the
sample at the end of each increment of load is determined. Accurate
determinations of void ratio are essential and may be computed from
the following data:
 The cross-sectional area of the sample A, which is the same as that of the
brass ring.
 The specific gravity, Gs, of the solids.
 The dry weight, Ws, of the soil sample.
 The sample thickness, h, at any stage of the test.
 Let Vs = volume of the solids in the sample where
 We can also write
 If “e” is the void ratio of the sample, then
 hs is a constant and only h is a variable which decreases with
increment load. If the thickness h of the sample is known at any stage
of the test, the void ratio at all the stages of the test may be
determined.
 The equilibrium void ratio at the end of any load increment may be
determined by the change of void ratio method: 22
 CHANGE OF VOID-RATIO METHOD
 In one-dimensional compression the change in height ∆h per unit of
original height h equals the change in volume ∆V per unit of original
volume V. For constant area.

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