WhentoUseImmediateSettlementinSettle

3D

Mostengineersagreethatsettlementismadeupofthreecomponents:
immediate,primaryconsolidationandsecondaryconsolidation(orcreep).Most
engineersalsoagreethatforspecificscenarios,oneortwoofthesecomponents
maybemissingornegligible.InSettle
3D
,youhavetheabilitytoturnonoroff
eachofthesetypesofsettlement.Usersgenerallyknowwhetherornottheir
materialiscreeping,butthequestionremains,whenshouldyouturnon
immediatesettlement,whenshouldyouturnonprimaryconsolidationand
whenshouldyouturnonboth?Thisarticleattemptstoanswerthisquestion
throughconsultationofcommontexts(seeBibliography)alongwithusers
commentsandsomeofourowninsights.Wehopethatthisarticlewillhelpto
settlethismatter.





ComponentsofSettlement
Virtuallyallreferencesagreethatthetotalsettlementofafoundationis
composedofthreecomponents:

ST=Si+Sc+Ss

where:
STisthetotalsettlement
Siistheimmediatesettlement
Scistheconsolidationorprimarysettlement
Ssisthesecondarysettlementorcreep

Someofthesecomponentsmaynotbepresent,ortheeffectsmaybenegligible
dependingonthesoiltype.Hence,theabilitytoturneachcomponentonandoff
inSettle
3D
.Butthequestionremains,whendoIuseeachtypeofsettlement?

Letsmaketwoassumptions:
Thesoilgrainsareincompressible
Waterisincompressible

Neitheroftheseistrueofcoursebutthestiffnessofthesoilgrainsandthewater
isgenerallysolargethatwecanignoretheeffectsoftheircompressibility.

Withthesetwoassumptionsinmind,theonlywaythatsettlementcanoccuris
throughrearrangementofthesoilgrainsand/orcollapseofporespace.The
basicmechanismforsettlementisthereforeessentiallythesameforallthree
typesofsettlement,andthedivisionintothreecomponentsisbasedonother
factors.
SecondaryConsolidation
Letsfirstconsidersecondaryconsolidation.Thesecondarysettlement,Ss
representstimedependentsettlement,orcreep,thatoccursunderaconstant
effectivestress.Thiscomponentofsettlementisimportantinorganicsoilssuchas
peat,butcanoftenbeomittedforothersoiltypes.Itisfairlyeasytoseparatethis
componentofsettlementfromtheothertwosinceitoccurswheneffectivestress
doesnotchange
1
.Thereforewewillnotdiscussthiscomponentfurther.

1
There is research that suggests that creep occurs simultaneously with consolidation settlement, but
traditionally, engineers adopt the definition of creep occurring after consolidation settlement. This is the
approach adopted by Settle
3D
.
ImmediateSettlement
Theimmediatesettlementisalsosometimescalledvolumedistortionsettlement.
Essentially,thisistherearrangementofgrainsduetochangingstress,resulting
inareductioninvoidratioandinstantsettlement.Inmosttexts,immediate
settlementisconsideredtobeanelasticprocess.Thereforethesettlementcanbe
calculatedfromelastictheory(seeforexample,Day2005,equation8.9).

Settle
3D
alsouseselastictheorytocalculateimmediatesettlement.So,byturning
onimmediatesettlementinSettle
3D
,youareessentiallycalculatingthevolume
distortionduetostresschanges.

Oneimportantconsiderationisthattheremaybeinelasticprocessesatwork
(plasticflow),meaningthatthisimmediatesettlementcalculationwill
underestimatetheactualsettlement.HoltzandKovaks(1981)state,The
immediate,ordistortion,settlement,althoughnotactuallyelasticisusually
estimatedbyusingelastictheory.ItisrecommendedthatalowervalueofEbe
usedtoaccountfortheplasticflow.

Therearemanyothermethodsthattrytosimplifytheelasticcalculation,
especiallyintheestimationofEfromlaboratoryorfieldtests.Someofthese
methodstakeintoaccounttheplasticflow,loadrigidityandloadshape.Allare
basedonempiricalsettlementdataandarethereforegroupedunderempirical
methodsinSettle
3D
(e.g.Schmertmannmethod).Thesecanalsobeusedto
calculateimmediatesettlement.Notehoweverthatthesemethodsaregenerally
notasrobustinthattheycanonlyconsidersimpleloadinggeometries.Also,
whenplottingtotalsettlement,theempiricalsettlementsarenotincluded.You
mustaddthemmanually.

OR
Sowhendoyouneedtoconsiderimmediatesettlement?Immediatesettlement
isgenerallyassumedtobethesettlementthatoccursquicklyafterthe
constructionofyourfoundationorembankment.Howquickly?Bowles(1996)
suggeststhatimmediatesettlementsarethosethattakeplacewithin7daysof

loading.Adoptingthisdefinitionallowsustoconsidermanypossiblescenarios
thatcouldleadtoimmediatesettlement.Thesewillbediscussedinthenext
section.
PrimaryConsolidation
Theprimaryconsolidationsettlement,Scisthegradualrearrangementofgrains
aswaterisexpelled.Thiscomponentofsettlementisusuallydominantinfine
grainedsaturatedclays.Butconsolidationalsooccursinothersoiltypes.Hence,
thereissomegrayareaastowhentouseimmediatesettlement,whentouse
primaryconsolidationsettlementandwhentouseboth.Thefollowingsection
outlinesdifferentpossiblescenariosandhowtosimulatetheminSettle
3D
.
SettlementScenarios
Inthissection,weconsiderdifferentsettlementscenariosandhowtodealwith
theminSettle
3D
.Firstwewilldescribeasimpletestmodelusedtoillustrateeach
situation.
TestModel
Consideraflexiblecircularloadofmagnitudeq=10kPaandradiusa=1mon
topofasoillayerwiththicknessh=10m.Wewillusethismodeltoexamine
differentscenarios.Lookingatthescreencapturebelow,aquerypointisplaced
atthecentreofthecircleforcalculationofsettlements.


Scenario1:UnsaturatedMaterial
Inthiscase,thereisnoconsolidationandallofthesettlementisimmediate.
However,thisdoesntnecessarilymeanthatyoushouldturnonimmediate
settlementandturnoffconsolidationsettlement.Ifyouturnonconsolidation
settlementforanunsaturatedmaterial,thenthesettlementwilloccur
immediatelysincethereisnotimedependentdissipationofporepressures.
Thistechniquewouldbeusefulintwopossiblescenarios:
Yourmateriallayerispartiallybelowthewatertable.Inthiscase,youcan
turnonconsolidationsettlementandturnoffimmediatesettlement.The
soilthatisabovethewatertablewillcompactimmediatelyandthesoil
belowthewatertablewillcompactgradually.
Yourmaterialisnonlinearandyouwishtousethenonlinearparameters
CcandCr.Inthiscase,youmustuseconsolidationsettlementandnot
immediatesettlement.


Fortheunsaturatedmaterial,itdoesntreally
matterifyouchooseimmediateor
consolidationsettlement,aslongasyoudont
chooseboth.

Infact,ifyouchooseconsolidationsettlementwithalinearmaterial,mvisjustthe
inverseofEthatisusedforimmediatesettlement.Soamodelwithmv=0.001
m
2
/kNwillgiveexactlythesamesettlementasamodelwithE=1000kPa.



Scenario2:PartiallySaturatedMaterial
Inthiscasetherewillbesomeimmediatesettlementasairisquicklypushedout
oftheporespaces.However,aswiththeunsaturatedcase,itisnotnecessaryto
turnonimmediatesettlement.InSettle
3D
,youcanaccountforthiseffectby
settingtheBbarlessthan1(Bbarrangesfrom0foranunsaturatedmaterialto1
forasaturatedmaterialseetheTheorymanual
formoredetails).Whenyoudothis,aproportion
oftheappliedstressistransferredimmediately
tothesoilsothatyouseesomeimmediate
deformation.





Scenario3:FullySaturatedSand
Ifyouaredealingwithsand,orsomeothercoarsegrainedmaterialthathasa
highpermeability,thenporepressuresdissipatequicklyandsettlementis
essentiallyimmediate.InSettle
3D
,youcansimulatethisinseveralways:
TurnonImmediateSettlementandturnoffPrimaryConsolidation
TurnoffImmediateSettlement,turnonPrimaryConsolidationandseta
largevalueforcvork.
TurnoffbothImmediateSettlementandPrimaryConsolidationanduse
oneoftheEmpiricalMethods.

Thefigureonthefollowingpageshowsacomparisonofresultsforthefirst
methodandthesecondmethod.

0
5
10
15
20
25
0 5 10 15 20
Time (d)
T
o
t
a
l

S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Primary Consolidation:
m
v
= 0.001 m
2
/kN
k = 0.1 m/day
Immediate Settlement:
E = 1000 kN/m
2

Comparisonofsettlementresultsforthecircularloadmodelusingdifferentmethodstoaccount
forrapidporepressuredissipation.

Scenario4:FullySaturatedClay
ThisisprobablytheonlysituationinwhichyoumaywanttousebothImmediate
SettlementandPrimaryConsolidation.Settle
3D
usesonedimensional
consolidationtheorytocalculatethePrimaryConsolidationsettlement.
However,mostloadingscenariosareactuallythreedimensional.Thereforeeven
withanincompressiblefluid,somevolumedistortionsettlementwilloccur
immediatelyinasaturatedclay.

Elastictheorycanbeusedtoestimatethissettlementwithoneimportant
consideration:youshouldusetheundrainedYoungsmodulusandPoissons
ratio.TheundrainedPoissonsratiois0.5(alowernumbercanbeusedifnot
100%saturated).TheundrainedYoungsmoduluscanbecalculatedby:


drained
drained
undrained
E
E

1 2
3


so,foramaterialwithaPoissonsratioof0.2,Eundrained=1.25Edrained.However,
LambeandWhitman(1979)statethatWithactualsoils,theratioofEundrained/Edrained
istypicallymuchlargerthanthistheoreticalvalue.Valuesof3or4arenot
uncommonfornormallyconsolidatedclays.

Itisalsoimportanttonotethatthisisathreedimensionaleffect,sotheamount
ofimmediatesettlementdependsonthegeometryofthesituationandthe
drainedPoissonsratio.Foraloadwithverylargearealextent,orlowdrainedthe
situationisclosetoaonedimensionalloadingscenario,sotheimmediate
settlementwillbenegligible.Poulos(2000)presentsgraphsshowingthe
importanceoftheseparametersincalculationofimmediatesettlement.






Theoreticalabilityofonedimensional(PrimaryConsolidation)analysistopredicttotalfinal
settlement.FromPoulos(2000).

Forsoft,normallyconsolidatedmaterials,ImmediateSettlementshouldbe
addedtothePrimaryConsolidationsettlement.Therefore,thefollowing
equationapplies:

ST=Si+SC Soft,normallyconsolidatedclays

HoweverPoulos(andothers)suggestthatfornormallyconsolidatedclays,the
immediatesettlementasaproportionofthetotalsettlementisoftennegligible.
Thisisillustratedonthefollowingpage.

Normally consolidated clay:

E
undrained
~ 3E
drained


S
i
is small

Forstiffoverconsolidatedmaterial,Pouloswarnsthattheimmediatesettlement
shouldnotnecessarilybeaddedtothePrimaryConsolidationsettlement.
InsteadtheimmediatesettlementaccountsforpartofthePrimaryConsolidation
Settlementandthatifyouaddthemtogether,youwillbedoublecounting.
InSettle
3D
therefore,youwouldhavetosomehowreducethecalculated
consolidationsettlementtobalancetheimmediatesettlement.

InSettle
3D
,thesethreedimensionaleffectscanbemoreeasilyaccountedforin
anotherway.GotoProjectSettings,choosetheAdvancedtabandselectUse
Mean3DStressasshownonthenextpage:

Settle
3D
willnowsettheinitialexcessporepressuretobeequaltotheundrained
meanstressratherthantheverticalstress,wheretheundrainedmeanstressis:





5 . 0 3 2 1
3
1

undrained
M

SeetheTheoryManual,section4.2andDas(2007)fordetails.Usingthemean
stressinsteadoftheverticalstressmeansthatwhenaloadisapplied,partofthe
loadisinstantlycarriedbythegrainskeleton.Thisresultsinsomeimmediate
settlement.Sincethecalculatedmeanstressisafunctionoftheloadgeometry,
thereisnoneedtoapplyafudgefactortoaccountforthesizeoftheload.The
plotbelowshowshowimmediatesettlementissignificantforasmallloadona
thicklayer,yetinsignificantforalargeloadonathinlayer.

Thesubsequentplotalsoshowshowamodelthatdoesnothavemeanstress
turnedonproducesthesamelongtermsettlementasthemodelwithmeanstress
turnedon.Thisshowshowtheimmediatesettlementisnotbeingdouble
countedwhenmeanstressisturnedon.


0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time (d)
T
o
t
a
l

S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Load radius = 10 m
Soil layer thickness = 1m
Load radius = 1 m
Soil layer thickness = 10m

Settlementcalculatedforoverconsolidatedclaywithmeanstressoptionturnedon.

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time (days)
S
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Vertical stress on
Mean stress on

Settlementcalculatedforthe10mloadwithmeanstressturnedoncomparedtothesettlement
calculatedwithverticalstressonly.



Summary
ThetablebelowsummarizeshowtomodeldifferentscenariosinSettle
3D
.Thisis
onlyaguidelineandspecificsites,loadingscenariosandacquireddatamay
demandadifferentapproachforyoursettlementproblem.Asalways,you
shoulduseyourengineeringjudgmentwhencreatingandanalyzingthese
numericalmodels.

Material Possible Methods
Unsaturated 1. Immediate on*, primary off or
2. Immediate off, primary on
Partially saturated 1. Immediate off, primary on with B-bar <1
Sand 1. Immediate on*, primary off or
2. Immediate off, primary on, c
v
or k is large or
3. Immediate and primary off, use empirical method
Saturated normally
consolidated clay
1. Primary on +
(optional) immediate on* with undrained parameters**
Saturated
overconsolidated clay
1. Primary on, immediate off, mean stress on or
2. Immediate on* with undrained parameters** +
primary on +correction to account for double-counting

*Elasticsolutionsdonotaccountforplasticflowandmaythereforeunderestimatethe
actualsettlement
**Undrainedstiffnessparameterscalculatedfromtheorymaybetoosoft,thereforethe
immediatesettlementmaybeoverestimated



Bibliography

Bowles,J.E.(1996).FoundationAnalysisandDesign5thed.,McGrawHill,1175
pp.

CanadianGeotechnicalSociety(2007).CanadianFoundationEngineeringManual
4thed.,CanadianGeotechnicalSociety,488pp.

Das,B.M.(2007).PrinciplesofFoundationEngineering6thed.,Thomson,750pp.

Day,R.W.(2005).FoundationEngineeringHandbook:DesignandConstructionwith
the2006InternationalBuildingCode,McGrawHill.

DepartmentoftheNavy(1982).SoilMechanicsNAVFACDesignManual7.1,
DepartmentoftheNavy,Alexandria,VA.,378pp.

Holtz,R.D.andW.D.Kovacs(1981).AnIntroductiontoGeotechnicalEngineering,
PrenticeHallInc.,733pp.

Lambe,T.W.andWhitman,R.V.(1979).SoilMechanics,SIVersion,JohnWiley&
Sons,553pp.

McCarthy,D.F.(2007).EssentialsofSoilMechanicsandFoundations7thed.,
PrenticeHall,850pp.

Peck,R.B.,Hanson,W.E.andT.H.Thornburn(1974).FoundationEngineering
2nded.,JohnWiley&Sons,514pp.

Poulos,H.G.(2000).FoundationSettlementAnalysisPracticeVersusResearch,
TheEighthSpencerJ.BuchananLecture,
https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/briaud/buchanan%20web/lecture_series.htm