Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Geotechnical Engineering II
Consolidation of Soils
Introduction to consolidation
Comparison of compaction and consolidation
Spring Analogy
Terzaghi’s one dimensional consolidation theory
Degree of consolidation
Consolidation test
Compressibility parameters
co-efficient of consolidation
Pre-consolidation pressure and its determination
Normally, over and under consolidated soils.
Methods of computation of Settlement and its rate
Coefficient of consolidation for layered soil
Total and differential Settlement.
Consolidation (Soil Engineering)
The compression of a saturated soil under a steady static pressure
depending upon the permeability of soil is known as consolidation. It is
entirely due to expulsion of water from void.
A study of consolidation characteristics is extremely useful for
forecasting the magnitude and time of the settlement of the structure.
Causes of consolidation
Lowering of the ground water table
External static loads from structure
Self weight of recently placed soils
desiccation
Compaction & Consolidation
Load
Load
Compaction
Consolidation
“A decrease of water content of a saturated soil without replacement of the water by air is called a process
of consolidation.”, Trzaghi
Stages of Consolidation
Primary
• Decrease in volume • Continuous and
due to expulsion and infinitesimal reduction in
compression of air voids • Expulsion of water from volume due to plastic
just after application of voids causing a readjustment of the
loads. It is mainly for hydraulic gradient and solid particles and
saturated soils. reduction in volume. adsorbed water to a
Effective stresses are new system
increased
Secondary
Initial
(Creep)
Spring analogy for primary consolidation
Consolidation is explained with an
idealized system composed of a
spring, a container with a hole in
its cover, and water. In this system,
the spring represents the
compressibility of the soil, and the
water which fills the container
represents the pore water in the
soil.
……Spring analogy
U Tv Tv Tv
0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.1 0.008 0.003 0.047
0.2 0.031 0.009 0.100
0.3 0.071 0.024 0.158
0.4 0.126 0.048 0.221
0.5 0.196 0.092 0.294
0.6 0.287 0.160 0383
0.7 0.403 0.270 0.500
0.8 0.567 0.440 0.665
0.9 0.848 0.720 0.940
1.0 ∞ ∞ ∞
Variation of U with TV
Empirical formula for U (as a ratio)
𝜋 2
𝑇𝑣 = 𝑈
4
𝑻𝒗 𝒅𝟐 𝟎. 𝟖𝟒𝟖𝒅𝟐 𝟎. 𝟖𝟒𝟖𝒅𝟐
𝒄𝒗 = = 𝟐
=
𝒕 ( 𝒕𝟗𝟎 ) 𝒕𝟗𝟎
Square root of time plot
Logarithm of time method
1 𝟎. 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝒅𝟐
𝑅𝑐 − 𝑅50 = (𝑅𝑐 − 𝑅100 ) 𝒄𝒗 =
𝒕𝟓𝟎
2
Pre-consolidation pressure
The maximum pressure to which an over consolidated soil had been
subjected in the past is known as pre-consolidation pressure or over-
consolidated pressure 𝝈𝒄
Causes
Due to overburden which had been later removed by erosion
Due to loads of demolished structures
Due to melting of glaciers
Due to past capillary pressure
Desiccation of clay deposits
Due to seepage forces
Due to tectonic forces
Determination of Pre-consolidation pressure
‘To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative
imagination and marks real advance in science’ , Albert Einstein