) Soil compression theory:

When you apply pressure to soil the soil particles (and the water initially) in the soil bear
this pressure. They are only slightly compressible. But as the water drains off the soil
compacts. For any given pressure there is a limit to how much water you can force out
of the soil and thus how much the soil will compact, and this is called settlement,
but it doesnt happen straight away (especially for clays). The movement of water
through the soil takes time and so there is a time-dependent behaviour to be
observed. In the field this time may be 20 years or so before final settlement is
reached (called equilibrium, where the pressure forcing the water out of the soil is
equal to the forces holding or pushing it in). When the load is removed a small amount
of settlement occurs in the reverse direction.
Primary settlement occurs through the expulsion of pore water. Secondary settlement
occurs through shear of the soil particles.
In the field, the applied pressure will come from some heavy object placed on the soil,
such as a silo or building or bridge support. Back pressure will come from the surrounding
water table and structures.
b) What does the oedometer do?
It constrains the soil while pressure is applied and allows you to measure the
compression of the soil after youve applied a pressure. It also only allows water to drain
from the top and/or bottom, reducing the concept of settlement from a complex 3
dimensional problem to a simple 1 dimensional problem.
c) What types of oedometers are there?
Today there are 2 types of oedometers you will use: there is the manual one and the
hydraulic one.

d) What controls do I have over the oedometer?
The main control you have in both oedometers is that you are able to change the applied
pressure.
In the manual one, this is changed by adding or removing weights. The pressure (in kPa)
is force (load x g) divided by area of sample.
In the hydraulic one this is controlled by knob on the front with a dial that tells you the
pressure in kPa (force comes from an air compressor).
e) What about water drainage?
The manual oedometer has porous stones at top and bottom and so drainage is 2-way.
The maximum drainage path (H) = half the sample thickness.
The hydraulic one has release valves at both the top and bottom of the soil, so you can
decide to allow water to drain off in 1 or 2 directions. In this experiment the top valve is
closed so drainage is 1-way (through the bottom) and maximum drainage path (H) =
sample thickness.
It also allows you to control the back pressure which is pushing the water into the sample,
and to observe the internal pressure (pore pressure) in the soil.
f) What about back-pressure?
In the Manual Oedometer there is no control over back pressure, so backpressure = 0.
In the Hydraulic Oedometer the cylinder on top can control the back pressure. In this
experiment it is set at 200kPa.
g) How can I observe soil compression on the oedometer?
In the manual oedometer soil compression is measured simply by the gauge on top, in
mm.
In the hydraulic oedometer the amount of soil
compression is read from a digital display on the top which tells you the volume of the
soil in cubic millimeters (shown above: value=36546 mm
3
). This display also shows the
internal pressure of the water in soil at the lower valve (equal to the back-pressure
because drainage is at the lower valve, here it is 199 kPa).
There is also a meter connected to a transducer which measures the pressure of the
water in the soil at the top valve (ie the pore pressure).
h) What is pore-pressure?
Pore pressure is the pressure experienced by water in the small pores between the soil
particles. When the soil is first compressed, both the soil and the water bear the pressure.
The water can slowly escape but the soil cannot, so over time the water squeezes out of
the soil until eventually all the pores have the same pressure as outside the system (The
pressure outside the system is 0 for the manual oedometer but 200 kPa for the Hydraulic
one, = back pressure). At all times the solid soil particles remain at the applied pressure.
In the Hydraulic Oedometer experiment, the pore pressure at the bottom at all times is
200kPa (= the back pressure), because the water can freely escape at that end. At the top
there is no drainage and so when you initially increase the applied pressure by 50 kPa the
pore pressure at the top suddenly jumps up to ~250kPa, and over time it gradually creeps
down, reaching the back pressure after some hours or days. (Note: Because of some
limitations of the system the observed value of the jump in pore pressure may be less
than 50 kPa.) Points between the top and bottom will have a pressure between 250 and
200, depending their distance from the drainage end (z) and how long has elapsed since
the pressure was increased (t). The relationship between pore pressure, z and t is
represented in the plot of Isochrones showing the variation of pore pressure with time
factor T
v
(Figure 1). This is a general graph useful for all clays in all conditions for any
drainage path length. The curves are time factor T
v
curves, this is not actual time but it is
related to the time for 90% primary consolidation. In this experiment we will use this plot
to predict the pore pressure variation over time, and compare it to our observed values.
In the hydraulic oedometer the pore pressure AT THE TOP of the sample can be
measured by reading the multimeter (which is connected to a pressure transducer).
Why am I Doing this Lab?
You are here to learn how to use an oedometer.
You are here to learn what settlement is in soil.
You are here to observe time-dependent behaviour of settlement in clay.
You are here to get a feel for how the settlement equations work in practice.
You are here to calculate and graph some settlement parameters.
The Oedometer Test
i) Objectives
To determine the one-dimensional compression response of a clayey soil.
To investigate the time-dependent behaviour of the soil during one-dimensional
consolidation.
j) Introduction
The oedometer test is widely used in practice to provide the parameters that are required
to estimate the settlement, and rate of settlement, of foundations on soft soils.
In the oedometer lateral movement of the soil is prevented by containing the soil in a stiff
metal ring so that only vertical (one-dimensional) soil movements are possible. Drainage
is only permitted from the horizontal faces so that the water in the pores is also
constrained to flow vertically.
When an increment of stress is applied to the oedometer test specimen there is an
instantaneous increase in pore pressure equal to the stress increment. As drainage
occurs the pore pressures decrease and the effective stresses increase, until when
drainage is complete the change in effective stress is everywhere equal to the applied
total stress increment.
During the stage when water is draining from the soil the variation of pore pressure with
time, and height (z) is given by the consolidation equation:

where C
v
is the coefficient of consolidation.
Solutions to the consolidation equation for the case of 1-way drainage in an oedometer
test are shown in Figure 1 below. The curves are referred to as isochrones, and give the
variation of pore pressure (and hence effective stress) with time at different depths. The
curves are given in terms of a dimensionless time factor T
v
where:

and H is the maximum drainage path for the soil layer.


Figure 1: Isochrones showing the variation of pore pressure with time factor T
v.
Dotted line shows where imaginary curve for T
v
=0.35 crosses Z=1


The relation between the settlement (after consolidation is complete) and the effective
stress defines the compression response of the soil. It is conventional to present the
compression response in a plot of void ratio against the logarithm of the vertical effective
stress (see Figure 2 below). The soil compressibility is described by the stiffness
parameter m
v
which is given by the ratio of the vertical strain (settlement/original sample
thickness) to the effective stress change.


k) Procedure
i. Manual oedometer
A lightly over-consolidated sample of clay has been placed in a small oedometer and
allowed to reach equilibrium under a small hanger load. A series of load increments have
been applied and the dial gauge reading has been recorded at the start and after
equilibrium has been reached for each increment.
Apply the next load increment and record the changing dial gauge reading with time. Take
readings at times of 10s, 20s, 30s, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 16 and 25 minutes.
After both groups have added a load increment, the load will then be removed in two
decrements for which it will be necessary to record only the final dial gauge readings
(after 20 to 25 minutes each). After the final decrement remove the load and hanger and
measure the final height and weight of the sample. Then place the sample in the oven to
determine the final moisture content.
ii. Hydraulic oedometer
The procedure is similar to the small oedometer. However, before adding the next load
(pressure) increment you should record the applied vertical stress, the pore pressure in
the soil, and the volume gauge reading. Then apply a 50 kPa total stress increase (do not
adjust any valves) and immediately take readings of volume and pore pressure at the
same times as for the small oedometer given above, and an additional reading at the
maximum time (say 45 minutes).
l) Laboratory Requirement
To complete the laboratory exercise all students must complete the worksheet and have it
signed by the demonstrator.

Determine the Pre-Consolidation Stress, vc, the Compression Index and the
Recompression Index (from the manual Oedometer readings).

Estimate the pre-consolidation stress
vc
(can be written as
pc
) from the e,
log plot using Cassagrande's method (Figure 2). The procedure is to determine the
point (A) of maximum curvature on the e, log plot, draw a horizontal line (AB) and
tangent to the curve (AC) through A, and draw a line bisecting these lines AD. The value
of the effective stress where the bisector line AC meets the extended portion of the
straight line part of the e, log plot (P) gives the pre-consolidation pressure.

Figure 2: Procedure for determining the pre-consolidation pressure (Cassagrandes Method)


Determine the coefficient of consolidation C
v
by the square root time method.

Plot the dial gauge readings against the square root of time as iIIustrated in Figure 3. To
determine C
v
proceed as follows:
(i) Obtain the true zero reading by extrapolating the initial straight line to zero time (The
theory predicts an initial linear response). The difference between this zero and the initial
zero reading represents compression in parts of the apparatus, and should be allowed for
when calculating the height changes of the sample.
(ii) Construct a line from the corrected zero point where the abscissae of the line are 1.15
times the abscissae of the straight line approximation of the experimental curve. The
intersection of this line with the consolidation curve gives the time corresponding to 90%
primary consolidation.

Figure 3: Settlement versus square root of time plot

(iii) According to the one-dimensional consolidation theory the time factor T
v
has a value
of 0.848 after 90% consolidation. The value of C
v
may therefore be calculated by fitting
the experimental curve to the theory giving:

where H is the maximum drainage path. In the manual oedometer H is equal to half the
thickness of the specimen during a load increment as drainage occurs from both ends of
the sample. In the Hydraulic Oedometer H is equal to the sample thickness because
drainage is from one end only.

The main factors that influence C
v
are the applied stress (load) and the type of soil.