15.

Introduction of the concept of 1D-Consolidation; Normally Consolidate Clay, Over Consolidate Clay,
Over Consolidation Ratio, Causes of Over Consolidation; 1-D Consolidation Laboratory Test Procedure

Increase in stress on the soil caused by construction of structures or any other load causes the sub- soil to
compress or settle and a foundation should not be allowed to undergo detrimental settlement. In fact a
foundation is designed to be safe against-

(1) shear failure – related to bearing capacity /shear strength

(2) settlement – related to soil compressibility

Causes of settlement: (i) lateral movement of sub-soil (relocation of soil particles)

(ii) decrease in volume of soil sub-soil

Settlement can be divided into three broad categories:

1. Immediate settlement: Takes place as the load is applied; occur in dry or partially saturated silt & clays and
coarse grained soils with high permeability; analyses based on theory of elasticity.

2. Primary Consolidation settlement: occur in saturated cohesive soils; consequence of volume change due to
expulsion of water (along with dissipation of excess pore water pressure and increase in effective stress)
from voids; time dependent phenomenon.

3. Secondary Consolidation settlement: occur in saturated cohesive soils; result of plastic adjustment of soil
fabric; occur under constant effective stress.

Uniform settlement – causes no distress in the

Consequences of settlement to various
structures (viz.building / road / bridge /
embankment etc.)
structures (even if large settlement); however
functional requirements may not be satisfied
Differential settlement – structures can withstand
very small differential settlement

Possible causes of volume decrease Very small compressibility

(i) compression of soil grains
(ii) compression of water and air Incompressible
(iii) expulsion of pore water
(if soil is saturated) Major cause / Termed - “Consolidation settlement”

Saturated soil stratum  subjected to stress increase  immediately increases pore-water pressure

Sand / silty sand /sandy strata  permeability is high (> 10-1 cm/s)  pore pressure dissipates
immediately / immediate & consolidation settlement occur almost simultaneously

Clay / silty clay/ clayey silt  low permeability  dissipation of pore-water pressure and associated
volume change takes long time

Thus, consolidation settlement  time dependent, applicable to saturated clay or clayey soils only

Compaction  also causes volume change  different from consolidation phenomena

Frictionless water-tight Piston Spring-cylinder Analogy for Consolidation
(Cross-sectional area - A)

Cylinder filled with water

The spring is analogous to soil
Spring
Pressure gauge

i.e. no excess pore-pressure

only hydrostatic pressure

If a load P is applied on the piston then at any time, P = Ps + Pw

Pw = Load carried by water Ps = Load carried by spring
No deformation of spring i.e. no load carried by spring (all
the load / stress is carried by water. So, u = P
P
Ps = 0 and Pw = P u 
A

As time is elapsed after opening the valve (i.e. t > 0),

water escapes  excess pore water pressure reduces
spring deforms spring carries the load corresponding to the
pore pressure release

P
Ps > 0 and Pw < P u 
A

After a long time (theoretically, t = ∞),

No more water comes out all the excess pore water pressure is
dissipated
spring deformation ceasesall the load is carried by the spring

Ps = P and Pw = 0 u  0
 Let us now consider a saturated clay layer
subjected to stress increase  and think
of its behaviour in the light of the spring-

The clay layer is sandwiched between

two permeable layers of sand.
In the spring model, valve was at the top
(i.e. drainage was permitted through the
top only) whereas the clay is permitted to
drain through both top and bottom sand
layers.

The soil solids are analogous to the spring and stress
increment is shared by soil particles and water
and at any time, increment of total stress,  = ʹu
Where ʹ = stress increment in soil par cles
i.e. increase in effective stress
u = increase in pore water pressure
At t = 0, and u = 
At 0 < t < ∞ , ʹ > 0 and u < 
At t = ∞ (theore cally), ʹ =  and u = 0
The variation of u and ʹ is shown in
the following figure

Notice that dissipation of pore

water pressure is not uniform
across the clay layer.
Water particles -
near the top and bottom ofclay
 reaches the sand
boundary quickly
at the middle of clay layer
 takes longer time to reach
the sand boundary

Isochrone : curve showing the

variation of excess pore water
pressure with depth

In this example water escapes

only in one direction (here
vertical). So, it is a one-
dimensional consolidation
process/phenomenon.

However, natural deposits may

also undergo two and three
dimensional consolidation
where pore water pressure is
released in two and three
directions respectively.
 In the nature, a clay stratum undergoes consolidation throughout its
geologic history. Depending on the stress history, a clay stratum is termed
as either (i) normally consolidated or (ii) overconsolidated H

Normally consolidated (NC): A soil layer/deposit/element that has not

A
been acted on by a stress greater than the present overburden pressure in
its geologic history is termed as normally consolidated. In other words for a
Homogeneous soil
normally consolidated soil the present stress is the maximum stress in its Unit wt. 
history.
Overburden pressure on
Overconsolidated (OC): If a soil layer has been acted on by a stress greater soil element A =  . h
than the present overburden pressure, it is overconsolidated.
H1 1 , ʹ1
Pre-consolidation pressure  The maximum stress that earlier acted on
an overconsolidated soil layer/deposit/element is termed as its ‘pre-
H2 2 , ʹ2
consolidation pressure’ or ‘past maximum overburden pressure’ and
usually designated by pc. It has significance regarding the magnitude of
potential settlement under foundation loads. Hn-1 n-1 , ʹn-1
Hn
Preconsolidation pressure A n , ʹn
Overconsolidation ratio (OCR) =
Present effective vertical pressure
Overburden pressure on
soil element A =   . h
NC and OC clay shows distinct shear strength and deformation properties. For soil above water table,
= b or sat
Below water table,  = ʹ
b = Bulk unit weight
Causes of overconsolidation sat = Saturated unit weight
ʹ =Effective unit weight
Reduction in stress may be caused by

Geologic / Natural process

Land Erosion (by geologic process - flow of water, wind etc.)
Melting of Ice
Man-made
Removal of soil (say hill)
Removal of structure
Excavation
One Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test First suggested by Terzaghi
Performed in a consolidometer (also called oedometer)

Schematic diagram of a consolidometer

1-D consolidation apparatus (source: Internet)

Test procedure:
1. Soil specimen inside a metal ring, weighed and placed in the oedometer with porous stones on top and
bottom. Specimen size is usually 2.5 in dia (63.5mm) and 1 in. (25mm) thick.
2. The container holding the oedometer is filled with water so that the specimen is fully submerged and Dial
gauge is attached on top plate/cap.
3. Initially a seating pressure (5 kpa or 10 kPa, depending on sample stiffness) is applied and kept for 24 hours
to reach equilibrium
4. A load is applied on the soil specimen and dial gauge reading is recorded (usually at elapsed time of 0,
0.25,0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 minutes, 1 h, 2 h, 4 h, 8h and 24 h. Next another load increment is applied and
dial gauge readings taken accordingly. The successive load (i.e. pressure) is usually doubled. Usual sequence
is 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 kPa (or 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 tsf).
5. On completion of the final load increment, unloading is done by pressure decrement (usually one-fourth of
the previous load) and dial gauge readings recorded.
6. On completion of final unloading to zero load, the specimen is taken out, dried in the oven and weighed.

From one-dimensional consolidation tests we can get a number of soil parameters

 Pre-consolidation pressure (whether the layer is normally consolidated or over-consolidated; OCR)
(Required for assessment of consolidation settlement)
 Compression index (Cc) , Swell index (Cs) and Re-compression index (Cr) (these are required for estimating
total consolidation settlement)
 Coefficient of compressibility (av)
 Coefficient of volume compressibility (mv)
 Constrained modulus (Ev)
 Coefficient of Permeability
 Coefficient of consolidation (cv) (required to determine the time for a given degree of consolidation or the
settlement at a given time)
 Secondary consolidation index (C)