COMPRESSIBILITY

OF SOIL

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TOPIC OUTLINE..
Settlement

Fundamentals of consolidation
One dimensional laboratory consolidation
Normally consolidated & overconsolidated clay
Compression index & recompression index
Secondary consolidation settlement

Time rate of consolidation

Coefficient of consolidation
Effect of foundation on consolidation settlement
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WHY MUST WE CONCERN ABOUT

SETTLEMENT?

Aesthetic view : the aesthetical value of the

structure might spoiled due to presence of cracks

or tilt of the structure caused by settlement

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 Structure damage :

the damages of some

structure such as
buildings and also
utilities drains, pumps
or electrical lines

 Structure failure : cause a structure to fail

structurally and collapse

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Settlement

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Settlement
SETTLEMENT

IMMEDIATE
SETTLEMENT

PRIMARY
CONSOLIDATION
SETTLEMENT

SECONDARY
CONSOLIDATION
SETTLEMENT

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settlement
WHAT IS Immediate settlement?
Caused by the elastic deformation of dry soil and of
moist and saturated soils without any change in the
moisture content in the soil
Usually occurred immediately after load is imposed
Completed quickly
Constitutes a relatively small amount of total
settlement

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CONSOLIDATION
WHAT IS CONSOLIDATION?
Consolidation is a process by which soils decrease in volume.
Karl Terzaghi : consolidation is any process which involves
decrease in water content of a saturated soil without
replacement of water by air.
In general it is the process in which reduction in volume takes
place by expulsion of water under long term static loads.
It occurs when stress is applied to a soil that causes the soil
particles to pack together more tightly, therefore reducing its
bulk volume.
When this occurs in a soil that is saturated with water, water
will be squeezed out of the soil.

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Fundamentals of
consolidation

Piston spring model

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2.

Fundamentals of consolidation

Piston spring model

in this analogy spring act as the soil skeleton
while water act as the water in the soil
the valve act as the void in the soil which effect the
permeability of the soil

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Condition 1 (if load is imposed while the valve is

closed)
Spring will not move due to the incompressibility of

water
Therefore, no load transferred to spring because it
was all carried by water
This also called the undrained condition in soil
After all the water extruded, the load were totally
carried by spring
Deformation continue to occur until the spring reach
the final condition
This condition shows the drained condition in soil
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Condition 2 (if load is imposed while the valve is

opened)
Water were forced to flow out through the valve
The flow rate depend to the diameter of the

hole/valve
Some of the load carried by water while some were
transferred to the spring
The load increment to the spring depend to the
decrease of pore water pressure

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consolidation occurs only in clay soil but not in

sandy soil

WHY ????
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One dimensional laboratory consolidation

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HOMEWORK!!
SELF STUDY ON
OEDOMETER TEST

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What do you get from oedometer test??

Pressure-void Ratio Curves : graph with time along

the abscissa (logarithmic scale) and dial readings

along the ordinate (arithmetic scale)

Compressibility Characteristic
Compression index, Cc : the slope of the linear

proportion of the curve

Expansion index, Ce : the slope of the expansion or

decompression part (also known as Swell index and

recompression index, Cr

Coefficient of compressibility, av : the secant slope

for a given pressure increment

 Coefficient of volume compressibility, mv ; the

compression of a soil layer per unit of original

thickness due to a given unit increase in pressure

Degree of consolidation, Uz : the ratio (%) of the

amount of consolidation at a given time within a

soil mass to the total amount of consolidation
obtainable under a given stress condition

Normally consolidated & overconsolidated clay

NORMALLY
CONSOLIDATED
CLAY

OVER
CONSOLIDATED
CLAY

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 Normally consolidated clays if the effective

overburden pressure p0 is the maximum pressure

to which the layer has never been subjected at any
time in its history

Overconsolidated clays - A greater effective

overburden pressure pc than the present
pressure p0.
The ratio of pc/p0 is known as
overconsolidation ratio (OCR)

Normally consolidated clay

How to determine whether the clay is normally
consolidated?
1. Determine the present effective overburden
pressure, p
2. Using the void ratio vs log pressure plot, locate
the point designated by a pressure of p and void
ratio of e
3. Project the lower right straight line portion of elog p curve (straight line upward and to the left)
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contd
The dashed line will intersect a horizontal line
drawn at
5. If point b is located to the left of point a, the soil
is normally consolidated clay
4.

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Plot e vs p

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Over consolidated clay

How to determine whether the clay is normally
consolidated?
1. Follow step 1 to step 4 (for normally
consolidated clay)
2. If point b is located to the right of point a, the
soil is over consolidated clay

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Compression index & recompression index

1.

Compression index,
= 0.009(LL-10)
(after Skempton)
or by using the equation: C c e e1 e2
log
'2

log
'1

2. Recompression index / swell index, Cr = 1 to 1 Cc

5

10

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Primary consolidation settlement

Occurred due to the expulsion/extrusion of the

water that occupies the void spaces

Primary consolidation settlement is a result of a
volume change in saturated cohesive soils
Very slow and continues over a long period of
time

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How to predict primary consolidation settlement?

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Secondary consolidation settlement

Additional form of compression that occurs at

constant effective stress at a very slow rate

Observed in saturated cohesive soils
Result of the plastic adjustment and rearrangement
of soil fabrics
Occurs after the primary consolidation settlement
ended

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Secondary consolidation settlement

Secondary consolidation settlement can be
calculated using the following equation :

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Time rate of consolidation

The rate at which the consolidation occurs depends mainly on the

permeability of the soil and the length of drainage path.

The time rate of consolidation can be calculated using the
following equation :

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Time rate of consolidation

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Time rate of consolidation

The time rate of consolidation also can be calculated
using the following equation :

For Uv < 60%; Tv = (/4) U2 = ((/4) (U%/100)2

For Uv > 60 %; Tv = -0.933 log (1-U) - 0.085

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Coefficient of consolidation
The coefficient of consolidation, cv can be calculated
using
the following equation :

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Coefficient of consolidation can also be determine using

the following method :
A) Casagrande method ( logarithmic time method )

0.196 H
Cv
t50

B) Taylor method ( square root time method )

0.848 H 2
Cv
t 90

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Logarithmic Time Method

Square Root Time Method

CONFUSE

Dont worry !
Let us try some
examples on
the next class

Effect of foundation on consolidation settlement

The increase in vertical stress in soil is caused by the

applied load over a limited area decrease with depth

measured from the ground surface downward
Further deeper in soil experienced less pressure compare

to the soil near the ground surface

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 The increase of effective stress can be estimated using

the following equation developed by Simpsons

't 4 'm 'b

'av
6

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Sand drains
Objectives :
Used in field to accelerate consolidation settlement in soft, normally

consolidated clay layers

Achieve precompression before the construction of the desired
foundation
Drilling holes (at regular intervals) through the clay layer
Holes are backfilled with sand by
Rotary drilling and then backfilling with sand
Drilling by continous flight auger with hollow stem and backfilling
with sand
Driving hollow steel piles (soil inside the pile is jetted out and
replaced with sand)
Surcharge is applied at the ground surface
the pore water pressure in clay increased due to the surcharge
Excess pore water pressure will be dissipated by drainage (both
vertically and radially)

Sand drains

Sand drains
Current practice?
Prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) a.k.a wick or

strip drains
Material : synthetic polymers (polypropylene & high
density polyethylene) + geotextile filter
Advantage : installation is much faster

Sand drains

THE END

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