Compression Index

It describes variation of the void ratio e as a function of the change of effective

stress σef plotted in the logarithmic scale:

Void ratio e versus effective

stress σef
It therefore represents a deformation characteristic of overconsolidated soil:

where: Δe - variation of void ratio

Δlogσef - variation of effective stress

Range of compression index Cc (Naval Facilities Engineering Command Soil

MechanicsDESIGN MANUAL 7.01)
A typical range of the compression index is from 0.1 to 10. Approximate values for
homogeneous sand for the load range from 95 kPa to 3926 kPa attain the values
from 0.05 to 0.06 for loose state and 0.02 to 0.03 for dense state. For silts this value
is 0.20.
For lightly overconsolidated clays and silts tested in USA Louisiana Kaufmann
and Shermann (1964) present the following values:

Compression
Soil Effective consolidation stress σcef [kPa] Final effective stress in the soil σef [kPa]
index Cc [-]

CL soft clay 160 200 0.34

CL hard clay 170 250 0.44

ML silt of low plasticity 230 350 0.16

CH clay of high plasticity 280 350 0.84

CH soft clay with silt layers 340 290 0.52

Prof. Juan M.Pestana-Nascimento (University of California, Berkeley) offers the

following typical values of the compression index Cc:
Soil Compression index Cc [-]

Normal consolidated clays 0.20 - 0.50

Chicago clay with silt (CL) 0.15 - 0.30

Boston blue clay (CL) 0.30 - 0.50

Vickburgs clay - dray falls into lumps (CH) 0.3 - 0.6

Swedish clay (CL - CH) 1-3

Canada clay from Leda (CL - CH) 1-4

Mexico City clay (MH) 7 - 10

Organic clays (OH) 4 and more

Peats (Pt) 10 - 15

Organic silts and claye silts (ML - MH) 1.5 - 4.0

San Francisco sediments (CL) 0.4 - 1.2

Clay in the old San Francisco Bay 0.7 - 0.9

Bangkok clay (CH) 0.4

In addition, there are empirical expressions available to determine approximate

values of Cc for silts, clays and organic soils; their applicability, however, is
more or less local:
Soil Equations Reference

Transformed clays Skempton 1944

Clays Nishida 1956

Brazilian clays
Cozzolino 1961
Sao Paulo clays

New York clays Terzaghi a Peck 1948

Clays of low plasticity Sowers 1970

Taipei clays and silts Moh a kol. 1989

Clays Pestana 1994
Void Ratio
The void ratio e describes porosity of a soil and is provided by:

where: Vp - volume of voids

Vs - volume of solid grains

Ranges of void ratio e (Braja M. DAS: Principles of Foundation Engineering)

Soil Void ratio e [-]

Poorly graded sand with loose density 0.8

Well graded dense sand 0.45

Loose density sand with angular particles 0.65

Dense density sand with angular particles 0.4

Stiff clay 0.6

Soft clay 0.9 - 1.4

Loess 0.9

Soft organic clay 2.5 - 3.2

Glacial till 0.3

Recompression Index
The recompression index Cr is determined from the graph representing the variation
of void ratio e as a function of the effective stress σef plotted in the logarithmic scale
for unloading - reloading sequence:

Determination of
recompression index Cr

where: Δe - change of void ratio for the unloading-reloading curve

Δlogσef - change of effective stress for the unloading-reloading curve

If no results from either laboratory or in situ measurements are available, the

recompression index Cr can be approximately derived from:

where: Cc - compression constant

Modified Compression Index
The analysis employing the Soft soil model builds on the elastic-plastic model
developed in the university in Cambridge. Here, the vertical deformation of
soil ε assumes linear dependence on the logarithmic variation of effective stress in a
soil. Application of this model requires an introduction of the modified compression
index λ usually obtained from triaxial tests.
If the modified compression index λ is not available from laboratory measurements, it
can be approximately found from the compression index CC:

where: CC - compression index

e - average void ratio (if this value is not available, it can be approximately substituted by the initial void ratio eo)
Index of Secondary Compression
The index of secondary compression is proportional to the logarithm of time and the
slope of primary consolidation (it is strongly dependent on the final effective stress in
soil):

where: Cα - index of secondary compression

α - deformation of a soil layer

t1 - initial time of a period of monitoring (measured from the start of consolidation)

t2 - final time of a period of monitoring

Determining the value of index of secondary compression Cα requires either

laboratory (e.g. one-dimensional consolidation in oedometer) or in-situ
measurements:

Determination of index of secondary compression Cα

Ranges of values of index of secondary compression Cα
sand 0.00003 - 0.00006

silty loess 0.0004

clay 0.01

The ratio between the index of secondary compression Cα and the compression
index Cc is approximately constant for most of the normally consolidated clays for
load typical in engineering practice. Its average value is 0.05.
Variation of natural moisture of soil as a function of the index of secondary
compression Cα derived by Mesri appears in figure:
 Variation of natural
moisture of soil as a function of the index of secondary compression Cα after Mesri
1 Whangamarino clay

2 Mexico City clay

3 Calcareous organic silt

4 Leda clay

5 Norwegian plastic clay

6 Amorphous and fibous peat

7 Canadian muskeg

8 Organic marine deposits

9 Boston blue clay

10 Chicago blue clay

11 Organic silty clay

Overconsolidation Index of Secondary Compression
The overconsolidation index of secondary compression depends on laboratory
measurements (e.g. one-dimensional consolidation) and is proportional to the
logarithm of time and slope of virgin consolidation line providing the preconsolidation
pressure was not exceeded:

where: Cαr - overconsolidation index of secondary compression

ε - deformation of a soil layer

t1 - initial time of a period of monitoring (measured from the onset of consolidation)

t2 - final time of a period of monitoring