The University of New South Wales

School of Civil & Environmental Engineering

1
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
Soil Mechanics
Rate of Settlement
Rate of Settlement
l Settlement of granular soils is instantaneous.
l Settlement of fine grained soils occurs over a long
time.
Sand
q

q
t
, u,
Clay
q

t
, u,
u
u

2
Rate of Settlement
l Settlement is a direct result of a decrease in volume.
l Immediately after loading, all the applied the load is
transferred to pore water so that the pore pressure
increases by the same value as the applied load.
l The excess pore pressure dissipates with time due
to permeability, as water drains out of the soil.
l During consolidation, as more water squeezes out of
the soil, more and more of the applied load will be
transferred to the soil skeleton.
l At the end of consolidation, all the applied load will
be carried out by the soil skeleton.
3
Consolidation Model
l Load q is taken up initially by pore water and excess
pore pressure (u
ex
) increases.
water
Tap, as soil
permeability
Spring, as
soil skeleton
q
l At the end of
consolidation the
excess pore pressure
becomes zero, and
all the applied load is
carried out by the
spring (soil skeleton).
l During consolidation, the excess pore water
dissipates at a rate controlled by the tap
(permeability), and the load is gradually transferred
to the spring (soil skeleton).
4
The University of New South Wales
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
2
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
Short & Long Term States
l Instantaneous conditions:
Instantaneously no water can flow, and hence there can be
no change in volume:
= q
= 0
f
=
i
= 0
= + u
= u
= q
= 0
u = p
S
i
= 0
Instantaneously
5
Short & Long Term States
l Long term conditions:
At the end of consolidation where all excess pore water
pressures were dissipated:
= q
= = q
= + u
u = 0
= q
= q
u = 0
S
f
= S
tf
Long term
6
Example 1
Calculate the settlement of a 4m thick clay layer
under a uniform pressure of 40kPa applied at the
surface of the layer. The clay layer is normally
consolidated and has the following properties:
C
c
= 0.2, e
o
=1.0,
t
= 19kN/m
3
4 m
40kPa
7
4 m
40 kPa
Example 1
40kPa
u

u
40 kPa
Immediately after loading:
Long time after loading:
Variation of pore pressure and effective stress:
u
xs
8
The University of New South Wales
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
3
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
Consolidation
l Conditions at the beginning and the end of
consolidation can be calculated.
q
u

l What are the conditions during the process of

consolidation?
Consolidation process may take a long time.
Effective stress and settlement need to be determined
during the consolidation process.
9
Derivation of Equations
l Terzaghi (1923) developed a theory for consolidation:
l This equation can be solved for 1-D problems:
c
v
is the coefficient of consolidation, can be obtained from
Oedometer tests.
m is an integer number.
DP (shown also by H
d
) is the maximum drainage path of
consolidating layer.
T
v
is a non-dimensional time factor,
10

=






Derivation of Equations
l This equation represents the progression of excess
pore water dissipation within a layer of soil with time.
l The degree of consolidation at a given time can be
defined as:
Hence the pore pressure at any other time can be calculated:
u
ex at t
= u
ex at t=0
U
z
u
ex at t=0
= u
ex at t=0
(1 U
z
)
11
T
v
=0
0.05
0.1 0.15
0.2 0.3 0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Consolidation ratio, U
z
z

/

D
P
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0
1.0
1.5
0.5
2.0
Degree of Consolidation
Isochrones
12
The University of New South Wales
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
4
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
Calculation of Settlement
l Another method of settlement calculation is to use
the average degree of consolidation for the layer:
l Having variation of excess pore pressure within a soil
layer at a given time, the settlement of the layer can
be calculated:
Soil layer needs to be subdivided into sub-layers.
Change in effective stresses, the void ratio, and the
settlement of each sub-layer at the given time can be
calculated.
Total settlement at the given time is equal to the sum of
settlements of the sub-layers.
S
t t
= U S
t f
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Calculation of Settlement
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
U

(
%
)
Dimensionless time, T
v
00
40
60
20
80
100
Approximate equations for degree of consolidation:
0.197
14
Plot the deformation dial (or settlement) vs log of
time.
Find d
50
(time for 50% consolidation) by
approximating d
0
and d
100
.
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Time
s
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
d
o
d
100
d
50
t
50
Coefficient of Consolidation: Casagrandes method
15
t
1
t
2
d2
d1
x
x
DP is calculated
based on the
average thickness of
the sample :


=





Double drainage:
=


2
Plot settlement (or dial
reading) vs. Square root
of t.
The abscissa of the
curve at 90%
consolidation is about
1.15 times the abscissa
of the extension of the
initial straight line.
Using d
90
, find DP at
90% consolidation and
then by reading t
90
from
the graph:
Coefficient of Consolidation: Taylors method
x
1.15x
s
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
0% U
90% U
16
DP is calculated based
on the average thickness
of the sample :


=





Double drainage:
=


2
The University of New South Wales
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
5
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
Example 2
32kPa
4 m
2 m

t
=18.2 kN/m
3
Sand
Clay
Calculate the settlement of the clay layer 200 days
after application of 32kPa surface loading?
17

t
=16.8 kN/m
3
c
v
=4.610
-7
m
2
/s
Normally consolidated:
C
c
=0.2, e
o
=1.1
Impermeable bed rock
U

(
%
)
Dimensionless time, T
v
00
40
60
20
80
100
Example 2
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
18
Example 3
The soil profile at a large level site consists of:
0 - 3m Sand
t
= 18 kN/m
3
3 - 5m Clay
t
= 20 kN/m
3
5m+ Impermeable rock
The water table is in the sand layer 1m below the surface. A sample
of clay from the mid-depth of the clay layer has the following known
properties:
w = 20%
pc
= 120kPa c
v
= 4.63 x 10
-7
m
2
/s
(i) A surcharge of 50kPa is applied to the site and left in place for 20
days. Determine the effective vertical stress at a point in the middle
of the clay layer 20 days after surcharging and state whether the
clay at the point is normally or over-consolidated at this stage.
(ii) The settlement of the clay layer after 20 days surcharging under
50kPa is found to be 4.2mm. Determine the recompression index,
C
r
, of the clay.
(iii) After 20 days the surcharge is increased from 50 to 100kPa and
this increased surcharge is left in place for a long time. The total
final settlement of the clay layer due to all stages of surcharging is
found to be 160mm. Determine the compression index, C
c
, of the
clay.
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T
v
=0
0.05
0.1 0.15
0.2 0.3 0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Consolidation ratio, U
z
z

/

D
P
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0
1.0
1.5
0.5
2.0
Example 3
Isochrones
20
The University of New South Wales
School of Civil & Environmental Engineering
6
Soil Mechanics - CVEN2201
By Arman Khoshghalb
Rate of settlement
0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
Time
e
d
o
d
100
d
50
t
50
Secondary Settlement (Creep)
l It takes place at a constant effective stress, after
essentially all the excess pore pressure has
dissipated.
l Difficult to separate it from primary consolidation.
t
100
1
C

At time t>t
100
:
t
C is
assumed
independent
of time.
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