Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019

Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

CHAPTER 8 Compressibility of Soil

Instructor
Dr. Younis M. Alshkane
PhD in Civil Engineering
E-mail: [email protected]

Based on Text Book: Braja M. Das (2007), ‘Principles of geotechnical

engineering’. 7th edition.

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Lecture Outlines:
1.Introduction
2.Elastic Settlement
3.Consolidation Settlement
4.One-Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test
5.Void Ratio–Pressure Plots
6.Normally Consolidated and Overconsolidated Soils
7.Calculation of Settlement from 1-D Primary
Consolidation
8.Secondary Consolidation
9.Time Rate of Consolidation
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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Introduction
Structures are built on soils. They transfer loads to the
subsoil through the foundations. The effect of the
loads is sensed by the soil normally up to a depth of
about four times the width of the foundation. The sub-
soil within this depth gets compressed due to the
imposed stresses. The compression of the soil mass
leads to the decrease in the volume of the mass which
results in the settlement of the structure.

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Introduction
The total settlement of a soil layer consists of three parts:
1.Immediate or Elastic Settlement (Se): caused by the elastic
deformation of dry soil and of moist and saturated soils
without change in the moisture content.
2.Primary Consolidation Settlement (Sc): volume change in
saturated cohesive soils as a result of expulsion of the water
that occupies the void spaces.
3.Secondary Consolidation Settlement (Ss): volume change
due to the plastic adjustment of soil fabrics under a constant
effective stress (creep).

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Elastic Settlement
• Defined as settlement which
occurred directly after the
application of a load (weight
of the foundation), without a
change in the moisture
content. This is why the
elastic settlement is also called
immediate settlement.
• The magnitude of the contact
settlement will depend on the
flexibility of the foundation
and the type of soil.

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Elastic Settlement
Theoretically, if the foundation is perfectly flexible, the settlement may be
expressed as

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Elastic Settlement

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Elastic Settlement

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Elastic Settlement

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Example 1

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

From Tables

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

3.Consolidation Settlement
• Consolidation settlement is the vertical displacement of the
surface corresponding to the volume change in saturated cohesive
soils as a result of expulsion of the water that occupies the void
spaces.
• When a saturated clay is loaded externally, the pore water pressure
in the clay will increase. Because the coefficients of permeability
of clays are very low, it will take some time for the excess pore
water pressure to dissipate and the stress increase to be transferred
to the soil skeleton gradually.
• Consolidation is the time-dependent settlement of soils resulting
from the expulsion of water from the soil pores. The rate of escape
of water depends on the permeability of the soil.
Note: Coarse-grained soils DO NOT undergo consolidation settlement due to relatively
high hydraulic conductivity compared to clayey soils. Instead, coarse-grained soils
undergo IMMEDIATE settlement.
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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Consolidation Settlement
The process of consolidation can be illustrated by Terzaghi’s one-
dimensional consolidation model . The model consists of a cylinder
with a spring at its centre:

During consolidation, pore water or the

water in the voids of saturated clayey soils
gets squeezed out –reducing the volume of
the soil – hence causing settlement called
as consolidation settlement.

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Variation of pore water pressure in a clay layer drained at top and bottom as the result of an
added stress.

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

4.One-Dimensional Laboratory Consolidation Test

The most important soil properties determined
by a consolidation test are:
– The pre-consolidation stress (𝜎𝑐 ), this is the
maximum stress that the soil has been
subjected in the past.
– The compression index (Cc), which indicates
the compressibility of a normally-consolidated
soil.
– The swelling index (Cs), (recompression
index, Cr), which indicates the compressibility
of an over-consolidated soil.
– The coefficient of consolidation (Cv), which
indicates the rate of compression under a load http://matest.com/es/Products/--
1/CONSOLIDATION-EQUIPMENT-
increment. /consolidation-test-0

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Stages of Consolidation

Mostly caused by preloading

Excess pore water pressure is gradually

transferred into effective stress by the
expulsion of pore water

Occur after complete dissipation of the

excess pore water pressure, this is caused
by the plastic adjustment of soil fabric

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

5.Void Ratio–Pressure Plots

In the initial phase, relatively great change in

pressure only results in less change in void ratio e.
The reason is part of the pressure got to
compensate the expansion when the soil specimen
was sampled. In the following phase e changes at a
great rate

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Example 2

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Solution

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Below

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

6.Normally Consolidated and Overconsolidated Soils

Normally Consolidated Soil: A soil
that has never experienced a vertical
effective stress that was greater than its
present vertical effective stress is called
a normally consolidated (NC) soil.

Overconsolidated Soil: A soil that has

experienced a vertical effective stress
that was greater than its present vertical
effective stress is called an
overconsolidated (OC) soil.

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

6.Normally Consolidated and Overconsolidated Soils

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Example 2

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Solution
The e versus log 𝜎𝑜 plot is shown in Figure below. Casagrande’s graphic procedure is
used to determine the preconsolidation pressure:

Part a)
the preconsolidation
pressure=120 kPa

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

7.Calculation of Settlement from 1-D Primary Consolidation

Let us consider a saturated clay layer of thickness H and cross-
sectional area A under an existing average effective
overburden pressure,𝜎𝑜 .Because of an increase of effective
pressure,∆𝜎, let the primary settlement be Sc.

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

7.Calculation of Settlement from 1-D Primary Consolidation

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

7.Calculation of Settlement from 1-D Primary Consolidation

For normally consolidated clays

For over consolidated clays

Case 1

Case 2
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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Example 3
A soil profile is shown in Figure below. If a uniformly distributed load,∆𝜎, is
applied at the ground surface, what is the settlement of the clay layer caused
by primary consolidation if
a. The clay is normally consolidated .
b. The preconsolidation pressure (𝜎𝑐 )=200 kPa.
c. (𝜎𝑐 )=150 kPa.

1
Use𝐶𝑠 = 𝐶𝑐
5

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Solution ( Example 3)
Part a

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Solution ( Example 3)
Part b

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Solution ( Example 3)
Part c

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

8.Secondary Consolidation
It is the settlement due to the plastic adjustment of soil fabrics at
constant effective stress. It occurs after primary consolidation
settlement.

The magnitude of the

secondary consolidation can be
calculated as

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil
Example 4

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Solution ( Example 4)

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University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Solution ( Example 4)

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Department of Civil Engineering/ 06/04/2019
Engineering Faculty

University of Sulaimani-Faculty of Engineering-Civil Engineering Department

Ch. 8: Compressibility of Soil

Any questions ?

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