COMPRESSIBI

LITY OF
SOILS

OUTLINE 1
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTACT PRESSURE AND SETTLEMENT
PROFILE
3. RELATIONS FOR ELASTIC SETTLEMENT
CALCULATION
4. FUNDAMENTALS OF CONSOLIDATION
5. ONE-DIMENTIONAL LAB.
CONSOLIDATION TEST
6. NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED AND
OVERCONSOLIDATED CLAYS

INTRODUCTION
Stress increase caused by construction
of foundations or other loads
compresses soil layers.
CAUSES
a. Deformation of soil particles.
b. Relocations of soil particles.
c. Expulsion of water or air from the void
spaces.

Categories of loads:
1. Elastic
settlement
(immediate
settlement), which is caused by the
elastic deformation of dry soil and
moist and saturated soils without
change in the moisture content.
2. Primary
consolidation
settlement,
which is the result of a volume change
in saturated cohesive soils because of
expulsion of the water that occupies
the void spaces.
3. Secondary consolidation settlement,
which is observed in saturated
cohesive soils and is the result of the

CONTACT PRESSURE AND

SETTLEMENT PROFILE
Elastic, or immediate, settlement of
foundations (Se) occurs directly after the
application of a load without a change in
the moisture content of the soil.
For perfectly flexible foundation resting on
a elastic material such as saturated clay,
the foundation is subjected to a uniform
distributed load, the contact pressure will
be uniform and the foundation will
experience a sagging profile.

A perfectly rigid foundation resting on the

ground surface subjected to a uniformly
distributed load, the foundation will
undergo a uniform settlement and the
contact pressure will be redistributed.

FOR FOUNDATION RESTING ON

SAND:

RELATIONS FOR ELASTIC

SETTLEMENT CALCULATIONS

CENTER:

CORNER:

ELASTIC SETTLEMENT OF A RIGID

FOUNDATION

Due to the nonhomogeneous nature of soil

deposits, the magnitude of Es may vary
with depth.

EXAMPLE 1
A rigid shallow foundation 1m x 2m is

as shown, calculate the elastic

settlement at the center of the
foundation.

FUNDAMENTALS OF
CONSOLIDATION

When saturated soil layer is subjected to a

stress increase, the pore water pressure is
increased suddenly.
Pore water drainage is accompanied by a
reduction in the volume of the soil mass,
which result in settlement.
In sandy soils, elastic settlement
consolidation occur simultaneously.

and

When a saturated compressible clay layer is

subjected
to
stress
increase,
elastic

Time-dependent deformation of saturated

clayey soil

ONE-DIMENSIONAL LAB.
CONSOLIDATION TEST

*First suggested by Terzaghi, performed in a

consolidometer (oedometer).
*The specimens are usually 64mm in
diameter and 25mm thick.
*The load on the specimen is applied through
a lever arm, and compression is measured by
a micrometer dial gauge.
*The specimen is kept under water during
the test.
*Each load is usually kept for 24hrs.
*At the end of the test, the dry weight of the
test specimen is determined.

*VOID RATIO PRESSURE PLOTS

STEPS:

1. Calculate the heigth of solids, Hs, in the

soil specimen using the equation:

2. Calculate the initial height of voids as:

3. Calculate the initial void ratio, e0, of the
specimen, using the equation:

4. For the first incremental loading, 1 (total

load/unit area of specimen) which causes a
deformation H1, calculate the change in
void ratio as:
5. Calculate
consolidation
increment as:

the new void ratio after

caused by the pressure

6. For the next loading, 2, which causes

additional deformation H2, the void ratio at
the end of consolidation can be calculated
as:

EXAMPLE 2

The following are the results of a laboratory

consolidation test on a soil specimen obtained
from the field: Dry mass of specimen = 128g,
height of specimen at the beginning of the
test = 2.54cm, Gs = 2.75, and area of the
specimen = 30.68cm2. Draw an e versus log
curve.

NORMALLY CONSOLIDATED AND

OVERCONSOLIDATED CLAYS
A soil in the field at some depth has been
subjected to a certain maximum effective
past pressure in its geologic history.
During the soil sampling, the existing
effective overburden pressure is released,
which results in some expansion.

Two basic definitions of clay based on

stress history:

1. Normally consolidated, whose present

effective overburden pressure is the
maximum pressure that the soil was
subjected to in the past.
2. Overconsolidated, whose present effective
overburden pressure is less than that
which the soil experienced in the past.
The maximum effective past pressure is
called the preconsolidation pressure.

Determining the preconsolidation pressure

c from the laboratory e-long plot.

1. By visual observation, establish point a, at

which the e-log plot has a minimum
radius of curvature.
2. Draw a horizontal line ab.
3. Draw the libe ac tangent at a.
4. Draw line ad, which is the bisector of the
angle bac.
5. Project the straight-line portion gh of the
e-log plot back to intersect line ad at f.
The
abscissa
of
point
f
is
the
preconsolidation pressure.

The overconsolidation ratio (OCR) can be

calculated as:

Some empirical relationships:

Nagaraj and Murty

Stas and Kulhawy

Hansbo