CHAPTER SIX

ONE-DIMENSIONAL CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT OF FINE

SOILS
Under load, all soils will settle, causing settlement of structures
founded on or within them. If the settlement is not kept to a
tolerable limit, the desired use of the structure may be impaired
and the design life of the structure may be reduced. Structures may
settle uniformly or non-uniformly. The latter is called differential
settlement and is often the crucial design consideration.
The total settlement usually consists of three parts – immediate or
elastic compression, primary consolidation, and secondary
compression.
Basic Concepts

Consolidation is the time-dependent settlement of soils

resulting from the expulsion of water from the soil pores.
In our development of the various ideas on consolidation
settlement, we will assume:
A homogeneous, saturated soil.
The soil particles and the water to be incompressible.
Vertical flow of water.
The validity of Darcy’s law.
Small strains.
Cont’
Simple Experiment to establish the basic concepts of
the one-dimensional consolidation settlement of fine-
grained soils.
Cont’
• Let us take a thin, soft, saturated sample of clay and
place it between porous stones in a rigid, cylindrical
container whose inside wall Is frictionless.
• The porous stones are used to facilitate drainage of the
pore water from the top and bottom faces of the soil.
• The top half of the soil will drain through the top
porous stone and the bottom half will drain through
the bottom porous stone.
Cont’
• A platen on the top of the top porous stone transmits applied loads to
the soil.
• Expelled water is transported by plastic tubes to a burette.
• A valve is used to control the flow of the expelled water into the burette.
• Three pore water transducers are mounted in the side wall of the
cylinder to measure the excess pore water pressure near the porous
stone at the top (A), at a distance of one-quarter the height (B), and at the
mid height of the soil (C).
• A displacement gauge with its stem on the platen keeps track of the
vertical settlement of the soil.
Cont’
• Pore water and the soil particles are incompressible and the
initial pore water pressure is zero.
• The volume of excess pore water that drains from the soil is
then a measure of the volume change of the soil resulting from
the applied loads.
• Since the side wall of the container is rigid, no radial
displacement can occur and so
• Volumetric strain is equal to the vertical strain,
=
Instantaneous Load
Apply a load P to the soil through the load platen and
keep the valve closed. Since no excess pore water can
drain from the soil, the change in volume of the soil is
zero . The pore water carries the total head and
thus =
The initial excess pore water pressure will be distributed
uniformly with depth so that at every point in the soil
layer, the initial excess pore water pressure is equal to the
applied stress.
Cont’
• For example, if and then
Consolidation under a Constant Load:
Primary Consolidation
• Open the valve and allow the initial excess pore water to drain.
• The total volume of soil at time t1 decreases by the amount of
excess pore water that drains from it as indicated by the change in
volume of water in the burette.
• At the top and bottom of the soil sample, the excess pore water
pressure is zero because these are drainage boundaries.
• The decrease of initial excess pore pressure at the middle of the
soil (point C) is the slowest because a water particle must travel
from the middle of the soil to either the top or bottom boundary
to exit the system.
Cont’
Excess pore water pressure distribution and settlement during
consolidation.
Cont’
• The settlement of the soil,( ) with time t is not linear.
• Most of the settlement occurs shortly after the valve
was opened.
• The rate of settlement, is also much faster soon
after the valve was opened compared with later
times.
• When the valve was opened, the initial excess pore
water was forced out of the soil by this initial
hydraulic head, .
Cont’
• The initial settlement response, soon after the valve
was opened, the early time response or primary
consolidation.
• Primary consolidation is the change in volume of the
soil caused by the expulsion of water from the voids
and the transfer of load from the excess pore water
pressure to the solid particles.
• Primary consolidation ends with .
Secondary Compression
• Secondary compression or creep is the change in volume of
fine-grained soils caused by the adjustment of the soil fabric
(internal structure) after primary consolidation has been
completed.
• The rate of settlement from secondary compression is very
slow compared with primary consolidation.
• The distinction b/n primary consolidation and secondary
compression is not clear because secondary compression
occurs as part of the primary consolidation phase especially in
soft clays.
Drainage Path
• The distance of the longest vertical path taken by water to
exit the soil is called the length of the drainage path, Hdr .
• Because we allowed the soil to drain on the top and bottom
faces (double drainage).
[(HO /2)+ (Hf/2)]/2 = (HO+Hf)/4
• where Hav is the average height and H0 and Hf are the initial
and final heights, respectively, under the current loading.
• If drainage were permitted from only one face of the soil,
then,
Rate of Consolidation
The rate of consolidation for a homogeneous soil depends
on:
The soil’s permeability,
The thickness, and
The length of the drainage path.
• A soil with a coefficient of permeability lower than that of
our current soil will take longer to drain, the initial excess
pore water and settlement will proceed at a slower rate.
Effective Stress Changes
• Since the applied vertical stress (total stress) remains
constant, then according to the principle of the effective
stress any reduction of initial excess pore
water pressure must be balanced by a corresponding
increase in vertical effective stress.
• Since the initial excess pore water pressure becomes zero,
then from the principle of effective stress all of the applied
vertical stress is transferred to the soil; that is, the vertical
effective stress is equal to the vertical total stress
Void Ratio and Settlement Changes Under
a Constant Load
• The initial volume (specific volume) of a soil is
• Any change in volume of the soil ( ) is equal to the
change in void ratio( ) and the volumetric strain
become:

• Since for one-dimensional consolidation ; we

can write a relationship between settlement and the
change in the void ratio as
where H0 is the initial height of the soil.

We are going to use to denote primary consolidation

settlement rather than so
The void ratio at the end of the consolidation under
load P is
Effects of Vertical Stresses on Primary
Consolidation
• Three plots of settlement data from soil consolidation.
Cont’
• Can apply additional loads to the soil and for each load increment we can
calculate the final void ratio and plot the results as shown by segment AB.
• Fig.(a) is an arithmetic plot of the void ratio versus vertical effective stress.
• Fig.(b) is a similar plot except the vertical stress is plotted on a logarithmic
scale.
• Fig.(c) is an arithmetic plot of the vertical strain( ) versus vertical effective
stress.
• The segment AB in Figs a,c is not linear because the settlement that occurs
for each increment of loading brings the soil to a denser state from its
initial state and the soil’s permeability decreases.
Cont’
• The segment AB is called the virgin consolidation line or
normal consolidation line (NCL).
• At some point of the vertical effective stress, say let us
unload the soil incrementally. When an increment of load is
removed, the soil will start to swell by absorbing water from
the burette. The void ratio increases but the increase is much
less than the decrease in void ratio from the same
magnitude of loading that was previously applied.
• Let us reload the soil after unloading it to, say .
Cont’
• The reloading path CD is convex compared with the concave
unloading path, BC. The average slopes of the unloading path
and reloading path are not equal but the difference is
generally small for many soils.
• We will represent the unloading-reloading path by an average
slope BC and refer to it as the recompression line or the
unloading-reloading line (URL). The path BC represents the
elastic response while the path AB represents the elastoplastic
response of the soil. Once the past maximum vertical effective
stress, is exceeded the slope of the path followed by the soil,
DE, is the same as that of the initial loading path AB.
Primary Consolidation Parameters
• Coefficient of compression or compression index, Cc,
and is obtained from the plot of e versus (b)
• no unit.

• The other is called the modulus of volume

compressibility, mv and is obtained from the plot of
versus ,( c )
• where subscripts 1 and 2 denote two arbitrarily
selected points on the NCL.
Cont’
• Similarly, we can define the slope BC in (b) as the
recompression index, Cr, which we can express as

• The slope BC in (c) is called the modulus of volume

recompressibility, mvr, and is expressed as
Cont’
• From Hooke’s law, we know that Young’s modulus of elasticity is.

• where the subscript c denotes constrained because we are

constraining the soil to settle only in one direction (one
dimensional consolidation).

• The slopes Cc, Cr, mv, and mvr are taken as positive values to
satisfy our sign convention of compression or recompression as
positive.
Effects of Loading History
• The history of loading of a soil is locked in its fabric and the soil
maintains a memory of the past maximum effective stress.
• If a soil were to be consolidated to stresses below its past
maximum vertical effective stress, then settlement would be
small because the soil fabric was permanently changed by a
higher stress in the past.
• However, if the soil were to be consolidated beyond its past
maximum effective stress, settlement would be large for stresses
beyond its past maximum effective stress because the soil fabric
would now undergo further change from a current loading that is
higher than its past maximum effective stress.
Cont’
• Preconsolidation Stress or past maximum effective
stress, is the maximum vertical effective stress that a soil
was subjected to in the past.
• Normally Consolidated Soil is one that has never experienced
vertical effective stresses greater than its current vertical
effective stress
• Overconsolidated Soil is one that has experienced vertical
effective stresses greater than its current vertical effective
stress
• Overconsolidation ratio, OCR is the ratio by which the current
vertical effective stress in the soil was exceeded in the past
Cont’
• The preconsolidation stress defines the limit of
elastic behavior.
• For stresses that are lower than the preconsolidation
stress, the soil will follow the URL and we can
reasonably assume that the soil will behave like an
elastic material.
• For stresses greater than the preconsolidation stress
the soil would behave like an elastoplastic material.
Overconsolidation Ratio
• We will label a soil whose current vertical effective stress or overburden
effective stress, is less than its past maximum vertical effective stress or
preconsolidation stress, as an overconsolidated soil. An
overconsolidated soil will follow a void ratio versus vertical effective stress
path similar to CDE during loading.
• The degree of overconsolidation called, overconsolidation ratio, OVR is
defined as:

• If OVR =1 the soil is normally consolidated soil. Normally consolidated soils

follow paths similar to ABE.
• The normal consolidation line delineates possible from impossible soil
states.
Calculation of Primary Consolidation Settlement
Effects of Unloading/Reloading of a Sample taken from field
• The current vertical effective stress or overburden
effective stress is (fig a)
• To obtain a sample, we would have to make a
borehole and remove the soil above it. The act of
removing a soil and extracting the sample reduces the
total stress to zero; that is, we have fully unloaded the
soil. From the principle of effective stress
Cont’

(a) Soil sample at a depth z below ground surface.

Cont’
• If we were to reload our soil sample, the reloading
path followed depends on the OCR. If
OCR=1(normally consolidated soil), the path followed
during reloading would be BCD.
• The average slope ABC is Cr.
Cont’
• Once is exceeded, the soil will follow the normal
consolidation line, CD, of slope Cc. If the soil were
overconsolidated, OCR>1 the reloading path followed
would be BEF because we have to reload the soil
beyond its preconsolidation stress before it behaves
like a normally consolidated line. The average slope
of ABE is Cr and the slope of EF is Cc. The point E,
marks the preconsolidation stress.
Primary Consolidation Settlement of Normally Consolidated Fine-grained Soils

• Let us consider a site consisting of a normally

consolidated soil on which we wish to construct a
building. We will assume that the increase in vertical
stress due to the building at depth z, where we took
our soil sample, is
• The final vertical stress is:
• The increase in vertical stress will cause the soil to
settle following the NCL and the primary consolidation
settlement is:
Primary Consolidation Settlement of Overconsolidated Fine-grained Soils

• If the soil is overconsolidated, we have to consider

two cases depending on the magnitude of
Cont’
• In case 1, the increase in is such that
is less than . In this case, consolidation occurs
along the URL and

• In case 2, the increase in is such that

is greater than
Cont’
• In this case, we have to consider two equations, one
along the URL and the other along the NCL. The
equation to use in case 2 is:

or
Cont’
procedure to Calculate Primary Consolidation
Settlement:
1. Calculate the current vertical effective stress and
the current void ratio (e0) at the center of the soil
layer for which settlement is required.
2. Calculate the applied vertical stress increase, at
the center of the soil layer.
3. Calculate the final effective vertical stress
Cont’
4. Calculate the primary consolidation settlement.
If the soil is normally consolidated, OCR =1, use Eq

If the soil is overconsolidated(OCR >1) and, use equation

Cont’
If the soil is overconsolidated(OCR >1) and use Eq

Or

In which, H0 in the equations represents the thickness of the soil layer.

The primary consolidation settlement, using mv, is
Thick Soil Layers

• For better accuracy, when dealing with thick layers (H0 > 2 m),
you should divide the soil layer into sublayers (about two to five
sublayers) and find the settlement for each sublayer. Add up the
settlement of each sublayer to find the total primary
consolidation settlement. You must remember that the value of
H0 in the primary consolidation equations is the thickness of the
sublayer.
• An alternative method is to use a harmonic mean value of the
vertical stress increase for the sublayer in the equations for
primary consolidation settlement. The harmonic mean stress
increase is
Cont’
• where n is the number of sublayers and the subscripts
1, 2, etc., mean the first (top) layer, the second layer,
and so on. The advantage of using the harmonic mean
is that the settlement is skewed in favor of the upper
part of the soil layer. The increase in vertical stress
decreases with depth and therefore, the primary
consolidation settlement of the upper portion of the
soil can be expected to be more than the lower
portion because the upper portion of the soil layer is
subjected to higher vertical stress increases.
Terzaghi One-dimensional Consolidation Theory
Derivation of Governing Equation

• We can derive the theory for time rate of settlement

using an element of the soil sample of thickness dz
and cross-sectional area dA=dxdy.
• Assumption
soil is saturated, isotropic and homogeneous.
Darcy’s law is valid.
Flow only occurs vertically.
The strains are small.
Cont’
• At any depth, the change in vertical effective stress is
equal to the change in excess pore water pressure at
that depth. That is,

One-dimensional flow through a two-dimensional soil element.

Cont’
• The inflow of water is and the outflow over the
elemental thickness is . The change
in flow is then . The rate of change in
volume of the soil, must equal the change in flow.
That is,
Volumetric strain and therefore
• thus;
Cont’
• The one-dimensional flow of water from Darcy’s law is

Partial differentiation of this eq. with respect to z gives:

The pore water pressure at any time: , the Partial

differentiation of this eq. with respect to z gives:
,substitute into the above one and then,
Cont’
• Finally we can get , : if we can replace by a
coefficient Cv (length2/time) called the coefficient of
consolidation

• This equation is often called the Terzaghi one-dimensional

consolidation equation because Terzaghi (1925) developed
Solution of Governing Consolidation Equation Using Fourier Series

• The solution of any differential equation requires a knowledge of

the boundary conditions. By specification of the initial distribution
of excess pore water pressures at the boundaries, we can obtain
solutions for the spatial variation of excess pore water pressure
with time and depth. Various distributions of pore water
pressures within a soil layer are possible. Two of these :
I. A uniform distribution of initial excess pore water pressure with
depth, may occur in thin layers of fine-grained soils.
II. Triangular distribution, may occur in a thick layer of fine-grained
soils.
Cont’
• The boundary conditions for a uniform distribution of initial excess
pore water pressure in which double drainage occurs are
• When t = 0, , At the top boundary, z = 0,
• At the bottom boundary, where Hdr is drainage path
length.
Cont’

• A solution for the governing consolidation equation Terzaghi

one-dimensional consolidation equation, which satisfies these
boundary conditions, is obtained using the Fourier series,(gives
the variation of excess pore water pressure with depth at
different times.)

Where, and m is a positive integer with values from

0 to and, , where Tv is known as the time factor, it is a

dimensionless term.
Cont’
• For an arbitrarily selected isochrone at any time t or time factor Tv
• At time t=0 (Tv=0), the initial excess pore water pressure, is equal
to the applied vertical stress throughout the soil layer. As soon as
drainage occurs, the initial excess pore water pressure will
immediately fall to zero at the permeable boundaries. The maximum
pore water pressure occurs at the center of the soil layer because the
drainage path there is the longest.
• At time t > 0, the total applied vertical stress increment, at depth z
is equal to . After considerable time( ), ,and
.
Cont’
• We now define a parameter, Uz, called the degree of
consolidation or consolidation ratio, which gives us the
amount of consolidation completed at a particular time and
depth. This parameter can be expressed mathematically as

: An isochrone illustrating the theoretical excess pore

water pressure distribution with depth
Cont’
• The consolidation ratio is equal to zero everywhere at the
beginning of the consolidation ( ) but increases to
unity as the initial excess pore water pressure dissipates. A
geotechnical engineer is often concerned with the average
degree of consolidation, U, of a whole layer at a particular
time rather than the consolidation at a particular depth. The
shaded area in above Fig. represents the amount of
consolidation of a soil layer at any given time. The average
degree of consolidation can be expressed mathematically
from the solution of the one-dimensional consolidation
equation as
Cont’
• Relationship between time factor and average degree of
consolidation.
Cont’
• The figure shows the variation of the average degree of
consolidation with time factor Tv for a uniform and triangular
distribution of excess pore water pressure. A convenient set
of equations for double drainage, found by curve fitting
above Fig. is:
and
• The time factor corresponding to every 10% of average
degree of consolidation for double drainage conditions is
shown in the inset table in Fig. The time factor corresponding
to 50% and 90% consolidation are often used in interpreting
consolidation test results. Tv = 0.848 for 90% and Tv = 0.197
for 50% consolidation.