Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 6 (2014) 6166

Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering

journal homepage: www.rockgeotech.org

A simplied method for prediction of embankment settlement in clays

Chunlin Li
Institute of Civil Engineering, Tongling University, Tongling 244000, China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The prediction of embankment settlement is a critically important issue for the serviceability of subgrade projects, especially the post-construction settlement. A number of methods have been proposed to predict embankment settlement; however, all of these methods are based on a parameter, i.e. the initial time point. The difference of the initial time point determined by different designers can denitely induce errors in prediction of embankment settlement. This paper proposed a concept named potential settlement and a simplied method based on the in situ data. The key parameter b in the proposed method was veried using theoretical method and eld data. Finally, an example was used to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method by comparing with other methods and the observation data. 2013 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 22 October 2013 Received in revised form 23 November 2013 Accepted 9 December 2013 Keywords: Simplied method Settlement prediction Embankment Consolidation theory Clayey soil

1. Introduction The one-dimensional (1D) consolidation equations proposed by Terzaghi are the cornerstone of soil mechanics. Settlement calculated using Terzaghis 1D consolidation theory (Terzaghi, 1925) has been widely used, but it is not always effective due to the uncertainty of coefcient (Asaoka, 1978). Many methods for settlement prediction based on observation data have also been proposed, for example, Asaoka method, hyperbolic method (Tan et al., 1991), parabola method (Xu and Xu, 2000), and in situ tests (Bergado et al., 1991). The Asaoka method and hyperbolic method are widely used due to their simplicity (Anderson et al., 1994; Tan, 1994, 1995, 1996). However, limitations still exist in both methods that the initial time point is necessary to be determined rst; and the difference of the initial time point determination can signicantly inuence the accuracy of the settlement prediction. Therefore, this paper proposed a simplied method based on the Terzaghis 1D consolidation equation irrelevant to the initial time point and compared it with other methods to verify its effectiveness.

2. Theory of Asaokas method In 1978, Asaoka proposed a new settlement prediction method, the philosophy of which is based on observational procedure. The theory is derived from 1D consolidation equation. He combined Mikasas (1965) equation with Terzaghis (1925) equation, and obtained the vertical strain as (t, z ) = T + 1 2! z2 T cv 1 3! + 1 4! z3 F cv z4 T cv + 1 5! z5 F cv + (1)

+ + zF +

where (t, z) is the vertical strain of z at time t; T and F are unknown functions of time; cv is the coefcient of consolidation. With the two boundary conditions, i.e. drainage from both top and bottom boundaries and upward drainage, the following equations can be derived: S+ 1 3! 1 2! H2 S cv H2 S cv + 1 5! 1 4! H4 S cv H4 S cv + = H ( + ) 2 (2a)

Tel.: +86 13856250392. E-mail address: lichunlin111@126.com Peer review under responsibility of Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

S+

+ = H

(2b)

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where S is the settlement, H is the thickness of clay stratum, and is the vertical strain at initial time. The discrete time can be introduced as tj = tj (j = 0, 1, 2, . . .) (3)

1674-7755 2013 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2013.12.002

where

t is the equal time interval.

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C. Li / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 6 (2014) 6166

Fig. 1. Hyperbolic plots of Terzaghi theory (after Tan, 1995).

From Eqs. (2) and (3), the settlement at time j can be written as Sj = 0 + 1 Sj1 (4)

where Sj and Sj1 are the settlements at time j and j 1; 0 , 1 are unknown parameters. When the state is stable, the nal settlement Sf can be obtained by the following equation: Sj = Sj1 = Sf (5)

where Sf is the nal settlement. From Eq. (5), we realize that the nal settlement is the intersection of relationship line between Sj and Sj1 with 45 line in the Sj Sj1 plot. If Sj and Sj1 are substituted by Sf in Eq. (4), Eq. (4) can be simplied to Sf = 0 1 1 (6)
Fig. 3. The determination of parameter b in the section K5+800.

And the settlement S(t) at time t can be calculated as follows: S (t ) = 0 1 1 0 S0 1 1 3. Theory of hyperbolic method
t 1

(7) The hyperbolic method proposed by Tan et al. (1991) has its origins in the rectangular hyperbolic tting method proposed by Sridharan and Rao (1981) and Sridharan et al. (1987). According to the Terzaghis theory of consolidation (1925), the settlementtime relationship can be expressed using U and Tv . The relationship between Tv /U and Tv is shown in Fig. 1. From Fig. 1, we can see that the linear portion is between U60 and U90 , which can be represented as Tv = Tv + U (8)

where S0 is the settlement at the initial time. In Eq. (7), S0 should be determined rstly before settlement prediction. The different values of S0 can result in different values of S(t), thus the precision depends greatly on the selection of the initial time. However, the selection of the initial time point will be different by different designers, which can cause the deviation of settlement calculation.

where is the slope and is the intercept of the hyperbolic plot. Based on the eld data (Tan, 1995), the relationship between settlement and time t is shown as t/ vs. t in Fig. 2. The slopes of s60 and s90 can be determined by s60 = si s90 = si 60 i 90 i (9) (10)

where si and i are the initial slope of linear segment in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. So the nal settlement f can be calculated by the following equation: f = i 60 90 = = si 0.6 0.9 (11)

Fig. 2. Hyperbolic plots of eld settlement (Tan, 1995).

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Fig. 4. The determination of parameter b in the section K6+180.

The limitation of this method is also the determination of the initial time point, since this method is based on the initial slope of the settlement; the difference of the initial time point can result in the difference of settlement. The constant-load condition was assumed in the hyperbolic method, thus the settlement before the end of loading cannot be predicted. During the loading period, the settlement rate varies widely, and the initial slope is difcult to judge. Sun et al. (2002) proposed a method of initial point determination by the regression analysis of observation data, but it is somewhat complicated to be applied in practice. 4. Proposed method As discussed above, Asaokas method and the hyperbolic method are not very adequate for the prediction of embankment settlement, since some parameters are difcult to be determined and the initial time is a subjective choice. Most of settlements are the results of consolidation, so consolidation theory is commonly used to predict the settlement. As mentioned previously, Terzaghis 1D consolidation theory is not always effective due to the uncertainty of coefcient determination, but the trend of the settlement is constant, thus an improved method for predicting the trend of the settlements is necessary. According to the loading levels, the settlement induced by loads can be calculated using Terzaghis 1D consolidation equation. The settlement at a given time can be computed as st = s 1 8 bt e 2 (12)

Fig. 5. The determination of parameter b in the sections (a) K6+300 and (b) K6+260.

where s is the nal settlement, st is the settlement at time t, and b is an unknown coefcient. In order to simplify the calculation, we dene the potential settlement as sp = s 8 bt e = s st 2 (13)

where sp is the potential settlement, which will happen in the future, suggesting the difference between current and nal settlements. In Eq. (13), the parameters b and s of Terzaghis 1D consolidation equation should be determined rstly. The parameter b can be obtained from in situ data and Asaokas method, as described below. From Eq. (13), it is clear that the relationship between ln[sp 2 /(8s )] and t is linear, so parameter b can be determined from the observation data. On the scale, the parameter b represents the slope of the straight line. It is well-known that the parameter b represents the conditions of drainage in Terzaghis 1D consolidation equation, which can be calculated using the consolidation coefcient and drainage length under two kinds of drainage conditions, as shown in Table 1. It is important to discuss the consistency of the parameter b acquired by theoretical analysis data and the observation data to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed method. Five sampling positions were chosen in the sections of K5+800K7+320 of

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C. Li / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 6 (2014) 6166

Fig. 6. The determination of parameter b in the sections of (a) K7+106 and (b) K7+110. Fig. 7. The determination of parameter b in the section K7+320. Table 1 The value of b under different drainage conditions (after Zhang et al., 2005). Name Parameter Radial drainage Vertical drainage Verticalradial drainage Expression b
8ch
2 F (n)de

2 cv 4H 2 8ch

2 F (n)de

2 cv 4H 2

Note: ch and cv are the radial and vertical consolidation coefcients, respectively; H is the vertical drainage length; n is the ratio of de to dw , de is the effective diameter of well, dw is the diameter of well; and F is an unknown coefcient correlated with n.

AnyangXinxiang Highway. The parameter b determined by theoretical method in Table 1 is showed in Table 2. Based on the observation data, the parameter b can be obtained according to proposed method, and calculation results of the parameter b are presented in Figs. 37. By comparing the values of b in Figs. 37 and Table 2, the parameter b calculated using the consolidation theory is consistent with
Table 2 Parameter b calculated by consolidation theory. Section K5+800 K6+180 K6+260 K7+110 K7+320 Improved method Stone pillar Composite pile Composite pile Composite pile Stone pillar H (m) 16.2 14.0 16.2 15.4 16.4 cv (103 cm2 /s) 0.32 0.27 0.324 0.258 0.347

the proposed method under two drainage conditions (drainage from both top and bottom boundaries and upward drainage), so the parameter b can be derived using the proposed method. With the parameter b obtained by Eq. (13), the potential settlement can be calculated from the nal settlement s and the observational settlement at time t. The key to predict settlement is to obtain the value of s . Although the Asaokas method has some restriction, the nal settlement predicted by this method is very precise (Anderson et al., 1994), s may be calculated by Asaokas method. Based on the theory and parameter analysis mentioned above, the procedure of this method is summarized as follows: (1) The nal settlement s is calculated by Asaokas method. (2) The potential settlement sp is obtained using the observation data and s . (3) The linear relationship between ln[sp 2 /(8s )] and t is plotted, and the slope of this line is b.

ch (103 cm2 /s) 0.318 0.334

de (m) 1.582 1.582

n 3.164 3.164

F (n) 0.555 0.555

b 0.0042 0.00283 0.0026 0.00225 0.0042

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Fig. 11. Results comparison of different methods with the observation data. Fig. 8. The relation between lling thickness and time.

(4) Settlement at a given time can be obtained by substituting the value of s and b to Eq. (12). 5. Case study In order to investigate the accuracy of the proposed method, the calculated results using the proposed method were compared with the observational data of AnyangXinxiang Highway. Then a statistical analysis was carried out to analyze the difference of results between proposed method and the observation data. In the case of the present study, the relationship between roadbed lling thickness and time is shown in Fig. 8, and s was obtained by Asaokas method in this case (Fig. 9), while the parameter b can be obtained by proposed method (Fig. 10). According to Eq. (12), we have st = 241.17 1 8 0.0028t e 2 (14)

The comparison among the proposed method, Asaokas method, hyperbolic method and the observation data shows that the results by proposed method are closer to the observation data than Asaokas method and hyperbolic method (Fig. 11).
Fig. 9. Determination of s by Asaokas method.

6. Conclusions Compared with other methods, the proposed method has a better adaptability to soil conditions. For instance, the proposed method is more accurate than hyperbolic method when settlement of embankment is quite small (i.e. the soil layer is relatively good); and the proposed method is more accurate than Asaokas method, especially in the early stages of the post-construction settlement on soft clay. Of course, the proposed method also has its limitations, and the accuracy of settlement prediction mainly depends on both the accuracy of the observation data and the proper choice of the discrete time step ( t). In this study, major conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) The proposed method is simple and the nal settlement can be obtained using two gures (Figs. 9 and 10). (2) The parameter b was calculated using the theoretical method and the observation data under two kinds of drainage conditions. The comparison illustrates that the proposed method is suitable under different drainage conditions. (3) The results calculated by proposed method are veried by the comparison with other methods and eld data in Fig. 11, and

Fig. 10. Determination of the parameter b with the present method.

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C. Li / Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 6 (2014) 6166 Sridharan A, Rao AS. Rectangular hyperbola tting method for one dimensional consolidation. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal 1981;4(4):1618. Sridharan A, Murthy NS, Prakash K. Rectangular hyperbola method of consolidation analysis. Gotechnique 1987;37(3):35568. Sun C, Rao X, Wang Y. Determination of nal settlement by tting observed curve method. Journal of Yangtze River Scientic Research Institute 2002;19(5):5861 (in Chinese). Tan SA. Comparison of hyperbolic and Asaoka observational method of monitoring with vertical drains. Soils and Foundations 1996;36(3):3142. Tan SA. Hyperbolic method for settlements in clays with vertical drains. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 1994;31(1):12531. Tan SA. Validation of hyperbolic method for settlement in clays with vertical drains. Soils and Foundations 1995;35(1):10113. Tan T, Inoue T, Lee S. Hyperbolic method for consolidation analysis. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering 1991;117(11):172337. Terzaghi K. Principles of soil mechanics. IV. Settlement and consolidation of clay. Engineering News-Record 1925;95:8748. Xu Y, Xu Z. A new method to predict the settlement of embankment. Journal of Hohai University 2000;28(5):1113 (in Chinese). Zhang C, Zhang B, Liu G, Wei Y. Application of settlement-velocity to calculate residual settlement and unloading time. Journal of Earth Sciences and Environment 2005;27(4):2832 (in Chinese). Dr. Chunlin Li is Associate Professor in the Institute of Civil Engineering of Tongling University in China. He got his M.S. degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Zhengzhou University, China, in 2003, and Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Southeast University, China, in 2012. His research interests are focused on road nondestructive examination, the basic characters of soft soil for subgrade, and soil disturbance characteristics for underground engineering constructions. He has participated in a large number of projects in design and construction of subgrade and pavement, including the Wuxi Subway Line Project No. 1.

the results calculated by the proposed method is closer to the observations than other two typical methods. (4) The trend of the settlement is constant and the precision of settlement acquired by the proposed method is not dependent of the initial time point selection, so it can be applied to predicting the embankment settlement at any time. Conict of interest The author does not have any possible conicts of interest. Acknowledgements This paper is a part of the project Universities Natural Science Research Project in Anhui Province (KJ2011Z375), which is supported by Department of Education of Anhui Province. The author wishes to express his gratitude for the support given to this work. References
Anderson LR, Sampaco CL, Gilani SH, Keane E, Rausher L. Settlements of highway embankments on soft lacustrine deposits. In: Albert TY, Felio GY, editors. Vertical and Horizontal Deformations of Foundations and Embankments. ASCE Geotechnical Publication No. 40; 1994. p. 37695. Asaoka A. Observational procedure of settlement prediction. Soils and Foundations 1978;18(4):87101. Bergado DT, Daria PM, Sampaco CL, Alfaro MC. Prediction of embankment settlement by in-situ tests. Geotechnical Testing Journal 1991;14(4):42539. Mikasa M. The consolidation of soft claya new consolidation theory and its application. Tokyo: Japan Society of Civil Engineering 1965:216.