Consolidation Tests of

Soils
Hsin-yu Shan
Dept. of Civil Engineering
National Chiao Tung University
Some Definitions
Settlement: change in elevation
Compression: change in thickness
Consolidation Tests
An effort to measure stress-strain-time
relationship for soils under partial or complete
drainage
Loading
Porous Stone
Dial gauge
1
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0
Soil Specimen
Porous Stone
2
Restrictions of Consolidation Tests
Suitable for cohesive soils
Sand compresses instantly, difficult to
measure strain-time relationship
Sudden shock makes the measured
deformation inaccurate
Simplified stress surface (profile of u vs. H)
Coupled with theory
History of Consolidation Test
1809 Thomas Telform was the first to use the
term consolidation
1901 Consolidation test was invented
1910 D. E. Morgan invented the floating ring
1923 Karl Terzaghi worked on consolidation
theory
We do not run consolidation test on sand
Volume change takes place instantly
We can still get the relationship between
volume change and stress
log
rebound
reload

Semilog plot:
Improves linearity
Easier to use in low stress range
Nowadays, we dont have to use semilog plot
anymore
Input all experimental data, compute
compression through linear interpolation
Some Corrections of the Measured
Change in Height
Machine deflection
Settlement-Time Relationship
Square root time method - Taylor
Log time method Casagrande
Primary consolidation the period of
consolidation where the volume change of
soil is due to the drainage of water driven by
excess pore water pressure
Square Root Time Method
t
S = U S
u
2
H
t c
T
v
=
s
v
c
H
T t
2
=
2
4
U T

=
Foxs equation, for U 60%
t = FS
2
At least for U 60%, t
1/2
~ S is a straight line if
Ts theory is valid
t
s
Initial portion may be higher or lower than S
0
Straight line portion
d
50
9/5 d
50
s
90
Peat
Extension from the straight line portion
t
s
For some soils, such as peat, k changes very
much when subjects to change in effective stress;
thus, Terzaghis theory does not work at all.
In addition, Terzaghis theory does not account for
secondary effect.
How Do We Get the Factor 1.15?
197 . 0
5
9
5
9
848 . 0
50
90
F d
F d
=
=
15 . 1 1526 . 1
197 . 0
5
9
848 . 0
5
9
50
90
=

=
F
F
d
d
It makes no difference if we use d
40
and T
40
to
construct d
90
and T
90
, we get the same results
90 100
9
10
S S =
The square root time method works well
based on the assumption of NO secondary
consolidation
Used strictly for vertical drainage
Log Time Method
Log t
t
1
t
2
s
1
Pick t
1
, t
2
, so that t
2
=4t
1
to get s
0
s
1
s
s
100
Most of the time, it is difficult to get this straight
line, since the secondary effect does not
necessarily produce a straight line
Square Root t vs. Log t
There was a war going on between MIT and
Harvard
To decide which one is correct compare
with k value
Generally, square root t method is better
s
100
from log t method is ambiguous
Square root t method only gives one c
v
, log t
method gives different c
v
by different people
Square root t method usually gives higher c
v
k
c
computed from c
v
almost always smaller
than k
m
actually measured
Secondary effects lead to a delay in
settlement in addition to that caused by the
real k
If all causes of delayed compression are
lumped into k
c
k
c
< k
m
Smaller k slower compression
Special Aspects of Consolidation
Testing

Rapid loading

Increase loading as soon as s

100
is reached

Continuous loading

Boundary impedence

Ring friction

Effect of temperature

Rates of dissipation of pore water pressures

Effects of non-linear stress-strain curve

Rapid Loading
Standard
c
v
Rapid
log
Smaller c
v
means smaller k
Rapid loading reduces the delay effect of
secondary consolidation
Boundary Impedence
t
Old porous stone PLUS filter paper
Old porous stone, NO filter paper
(likely to be clogged by fine
particles)
Impedence factor I increases
H k
kH
I
d
d
=
s
New porous stone, NO filter paper
H
d
is the thickness of the porous disc
The smaller the better
k
d
is the hydraulic conductivity of the porous
disc
The larger the better
Free drainage I = 0
I should be kept less than 0.01
I affects the time rate of consolidation, but it
does not affect the total settlement
How to Reduce I
Keep the porous stone clean
Use filter paper to keep the fine particles from
entering it
Boil the porous stone before use to get the
trapped air out
Ring Friction
Effects of ring friction
During loading reduce stress acted on the
specimen specimen compress less
During rebound reduce the swelling
tendency specimen swell less
Flatten the swelling curve at low stress level
Taylor (1942)
p q =
)]
4
exp( 1 [
4
H
D
K
K
H
D
o
o

= Make 1 to reduce friction

Q
Q = P z D
P
The stress in the
ring is not uniform
z
=
v
K
o

Use consolidation rings made of cadmium,
nickel, hard chrome will be fine
Dont use Teflon, although it has the lowest
friction coefficient
Teflon is too soft and will be scrapped by soils
with hard materials and get stuck
of greased steel > ungreased
plastic>cadmium coated steel
increases as consolidation pressure goes
up less error
Use larger D/H ratio, the larger D/H the
smaller the effect of friction
Wide and thin specimen
For D/H about 3, greased steel, total error is
about 10%
Effect of Temperature
Stress-strain curve
The higher the temperature, the lower the e-
log p curve
This may due to the change of volume of the
consolidation ring at higher temperature
The ring expands such that the friction
decreases
log
Reduction in e
As temperature goes up
e
Effect on c
v
and k
As temperature goes up, c
v
increases since k
decreases as the viscosity of water gets
smaller
The water flows faster
Effects of Non-Linear Stress-Strain
Curve
Effect on settlement-time relationship
Effect on
Effect on c
v
and a
v
i
b
u
u
Effect on Settlement-Time
Relationship

(2)NC clay, concave upwards

Resultant c
v
decreases
(1)
e
(3)OC clay, concave downwards
Resultant c
v
increases
t
(2) NC clay
(3) OC clay
U = 90%
U
Influence of Secondary Compression
on Subsequent Behavior
Stress-strain behavior
Subtract the secondary compression to get the
stress-strain curve (e log p)?
Settlement-time relationship
Loading rate in the lab is very high
Slow loading in the field
Drainage distance in the field is far greater
than in the lab
May be difficult to see secondary effect
log t
H = 5.5
H = 0.37
s
Almost totally secondary compression
Secondary compression may not affect the
primary consolidation of next load
incremental
Materials such as peat also has primary
stage, but its properties changes a lot during
this period
Difficult to obtain meaningful parameters
Quick Loading Test
Monitor the s ~ t relationship
Apply next incremental load once the primary
consolidation completes
Eliminate the secondary effect?
Continuous Loading Tests
Constant rate of strain (CRS) test
Controlled deformation rate
Constant gradient test
Constant rate of loading test
Constant Gradient Test
Constant isochrone
Maintain the same stress surface
Use stepping motor ~ 200 to 2000
step/revolution to control the stepping rate
i
u
b
u
Transducer
Constant Rate of Strain Test
In CRS test, the strain rate is uniformly high
throughout the test
In conventional incremental loading test, the
strain rate is very small at the end of any load
standard
CRS
v

c
v
c
v,CRS
~ c
v,inc
Advantages of CRS Test
Reduced testing time
Automated data collection and reduction
Continuous definition of properties
Not at specific loads
Reduced extrusion of solids
Reduced space requirements
Disadvantages of CRS Test
Increased capital cost
Increased maintenance cost
Require better-trained technicians
Periodic down-time when something went
wrong
Require backpressuring
No data on secondary effects
Secondary effects are hidden in primary
stages
Higher strain rates than in the field
Consolidation Test with k
Measurement
Performed after primary consolidation
No free drainage in the bottom of the
consolidation cell
Water flow through the specimen from bottom
to top
Can perform constant head test or falling
head test
Constant head test is better, at least the state
of stress of the specimen remains the same
throughout the test
Can also use additional air pressure to raise
the hydraulic gradient
Do not use high gradient because Darcys law
is valid only for constant volume condition
log
Elevate pore pressure at
the bottom
e
Average stress
during k test
Radial Flow Consolidation Test
Drainage column in the center of the
specimen
A hole is drilled in the center of the specimen
and filled with sand or other drainage material
Use radial flow theory for data reduction
Effect of Partial Saturation
Soils with inter-connected air voids
k increases with the degree of saturation
Soils with occluded air voids
Major reason for instantaneous initial
compression
As the soil becomes saturated almost no
instantaneous initial compression
Backpressure saturation
Can be done with some types of consolidation
cells
t
Gas = 5%
6%
9%
k
w U
12%
Effect of Sampling Disturbance
Stress-strain curve
Round off
Smaller e for given
The difference between the slope of e log p
curve of undisturbed and remolded soil is not
very large
c
v
decreased
Reduced secondary effects, c

decreased
Obtained soil properties
max

log
3 tube
2 tube
remolded
Sampling disturbance
Stress relief
e
c
v
There are fissures in the field, but we tend to
use uniform and good sample in the lab
reduced k and c
v