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10. ANALYSIS OF CONSOLIDATION

10.1 Introduction: the consolidation process
From the response of soils under one-dimensional conditions it is apparent that when the effective
stress increases there will be a tendency for the soil to compress. However, when a load is applied to
a saturated soil specimen this compression does not occur immediately. This behaviour is a
consequence of the soil constituents, the skeletal material and pore water, being almost
incompressible compared to the soil element; deformation can only take place by water being
squeezed out of the voids. This can only occur at a finite rate and so initially when the soil is loaded
it undergoes no volume change.
Under one dimensional conditions this implies that there can be no vertical strain and thus no change
in vertical effective stress. For 1-D conditions we have
zz v

e C log( F / I )

1 e
1 e

(1)

Hence if v = 0 then e = 0 and F = I.

When the load is first applied the total stress increases, but as shown above for 1-D conditions there
can be no instantaneous change in vertical effective stress, this implies that the pore pressure must
increase by exactly the same amount as the total stress as:
= - u

(2)

Subsequently there will be flow from regions of higher excess pore pressure to regions of lower
excess pore pressure, the excess pore pressures will dissipate, the effective stress will change and the
soil will deform (consolidate) with time. This is shown schematically in Fig. 1.

Excess Pore
Pressure

Total
Stress

Time

Effective
Stress

Time

Settlement

Time

Time

Fig.
Variationofofstress,
total stress
and pore
with
time
Fig.
1 1Variation
pore pressure
andpressure
settlement
with
time

10.2 Derivation of the equation of consolidation for 1-D conditions

If we assume that the pore fluid and soil skeleton are incompressible, then:
Volume decrease of the soil = Volume of pore fluid which flows out
and thus
Rate of volume decrease of soil = Rate at which pore fluid flows out
In deriving the equations governing consolidation we will consider only one-dimensional conditions
with purely vertical soil movements and water flows. The solutions obtained will only be strictly
relevant to the vertical consolidation of relatively thin soil layers occurring as a result of extensive
uniform loading. (This is a common situation). A similar approach can be followed for more general
loading but the resulting equations can only be solved numerically.

v(z, t)

Soil element

v(z z, t) v

v
z
z

Fig. 2 Flow of pore fluid into an element of soil

Fig. 2 Flow of pore fluid into an element of soil
Referring to Fig 2 it can be seen that:

The rate at which water enters the element

(v ( z z , t ) v ( z , t )) A
v
z A
z

The rate of volume decrease of the element

v
z A
t

and thus

where

v
z

v
t

v = the pore fluid velocity,

v = the element volume strain,
A = the cross sectional area of the element.

(3)

It will also be assumed that Darcys law holds and thus that
v

k v

h
z

(4)

In applying Darcys law it is only the velocity due to the consolidation process that is of interest, and
consequently the head in (4) is the excess head due to the consolidation process (not the total head).
The excess head is related to the excess pore water pressure by
h

u
w

(5)

Note that the elevation is not involved in (5) because it only relates the excess heads and water
pressures. From (3), (4) and (5) it follows that

u
[k v ]
z
z

v
t

(6)

If it is also assumed that the soil element responds elastically to a change in effective stress then:

v m v e

(7)

where

e
with

the change in effective stress from the original value

=
=
=

the increase in pore water pressure over the original value (excess pore
water pressure)

mv

the coefficient of volume decrease,

e u

(8)

the increase in total stress over the original value

and
The value of mv must be determined over the appropriate effective stress range because it depends
on the mean effective stress. This can be seen by considering the relation between voids ratio and
effective stress:

e A C log10
and hence
de

now
v

C d
2.3

e
C d

m v d
1 e 2.3 (1 e)

(9)

Thus mv depends on both voids ratio e, and effective stress, .

Combination of equations (6), (7) and (8) leads to the equation of consolidation:

k v u
[
]
z w z

mv[

u e

]
t
t

(10)

The equation of consolidation must be solved subject to certain boundary conditions and initial
conditions
10.3 Boundary Conditions
At a boundary where the soil is free to drain the pore water pressure will be constant and will not
change during consolidation. For such a boundary the excess pore water pressure will be zero.
u=0

at a permeable boundary

(11a)

At an impermeable boundary the pore water velocity perpendicular to the boundary will be zero and
thus from Darcys law
u
z

at an impermeable boundary

(11b)

10.4 Initial Conditions

At the instant of loading there is no volume strain and thus no change in vertical effective stress. At
this instant the excess pore water pressure will be equal to the initial increase in total stress.
u e at the instant of loading.

(12)

10.5 The Equation of Consolidation for a Homogeneous Soil

If the soil layer being considered is homogeneous then equation (10) becomes:

2 u
cv 2
z

u e

t
t

(13)

where

cv

kv
is called the coefficient of consolidation.
mv w

The coefficient of consolidation (cv) can be estimated using the oedometer apparatus as can the
coefficient of volume decrease (mv). The procedure to do this will be discussed in the laboratory
classes. It is difficult (time consuming) to measure the permeability of clays (k v) and so the value of
permeability is usually inferred from the values of cv and mv .
10.6 Analytic Solutions to the equations of consolidation
10.6.1 Two-way drainage
Fig. 3 represents a layer of clay of thickness 2H subjected to a uniform surface stress q applied at
time t = 0 and held constant thereafter. The clay layer is free to drain at both its top and bottom
boundaries. This is called two-way drainage.

Uniformly distributed surcharge q

2H

Fig. 3 Homogeneous clay layer free to drain from both upper and lower boundaries
Fig 3 Homogeneous Saturated Clay Layer
free to drain at Upper and Lower Boundaries
The increase in stress through out the layer and does not vary with time and so
e

Equation (10) therefore becomes:

cv

2u
z2

u
t

(14a)

The clay layer is free to drain at its upper and lower boundary and so
u = 0 when z = 0 for t > 0

(14b)

u = 0 when z = 2H for t > 0

(14c)

Initially the excess pore pressure will just match the increase in total stress so that there will be no
instantaneous volume change and thus:
u = q when t = 0 for 0 < z < 2H.

(14d)

It can be shown that the solution of equations (14 a,b,c,d) is:

2
1
sin ( n Z ) e n Tv
n0 n

u 2q

(15)

where n = (n + )
Z

z
, a dimensionless distance
H

Tv

cv t
, a dimensionless time
H2

Notice that H which occurs in both dimensionless quantities is the maximum drainage path length.

The settlement of the soil layer can be determined by summing the vertical (= volume) strains,
giving:

2H

v dz

0
2H

(16a)

m v (q u)dz
0

and the variation of settlement with time can be obtained by substituting in equation (15) which
gives the variation of u with time and depth.
2H
sin Z
2

n
S m v q 1 2
e n Tv dz
n
0
0

giving

e n Tv
S m v q 2H 1 2
2
n0 n

(16b)

Noting that the final settlement of the layer, S = mv q 2H the settlement may be written:
e n Tv

S
U 1 2
2
S
n0 n

(16c)

where U is known as the degree of settlement

The variation of excess pore pressure within the layer is shown in Figure 4 (also in data sheets).
0

Z=z/H

T=0.8

0.5

0.3

0.2 0.1

2
0.0

0.5

1.0

u/q
Fig. 4 Variation of excess pore pressure with depth
The lines on Figure 4 represent the variation of pore pressure with depth at different nondimensionalised times (T). These lines are known as isochrones. It can be seen that initially the
excess pore pressure is constant (u/q = 1) throughout the layer. With time the pore water flows from
the interior of the layer to the drainage boundaries, and the excess pore pressures dissipate until after
a very long time there are no excess pore pressures.

The variation of settlement with time is most conveniently plotted in the form of the degree of
settlement (U) versus dimensionless time Tv, and this is illustrated in Fig. 5 (also in data sheets)
Dimensionless Time Tv
10-1
10-2

10-3
0.00

10

Relation of degree of
settlement and time
0.25

0.50

0.75
1.00
Fig. 5 Degree of settlement versus dimensionless time
There are several useful approximations for the degree of settlement, viz:

4 Tv

( Tv 0.2 )

(17)
U

8 2 Tv / 4
e
2

( Tv 0..2)

alternatively Fig. 5 may be used. It is worth remembering that U = 0.5 when Tv = 0.197.

10.6.2 One-way drainage

Fig. 6 represents a layer of clay of thickness H subjected to a uniform surface stress q applied at time
t = 0 and held constant thereafter. The clay layer is free to drain at its top boundary but is unable to
drain at its base. This is called one way drainage.

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Uniformly distributed surcharge q

Impermeable base
Fig 6

Fig. 6 Homogeneous saturated clay layer on an impermeable base

Homogeneous Saturated ClayLayer resting on an impermeable base

The increase in stress through out the layer and does not vary with time and so
e q
Equation (6) therefore becomes:
cv

2u
z2

u
t

(18a)

The clay layer is free to drain at its upper boundary and as before
u

0 when z = 0 for t > 0

(18b)

at the lower boundary

u
z

0 when z = H for t > 0

(18c)

Initially the excess pore pressure will just match the increase in total stress so that there will be no
instantaneous volume change and thus:
u = q when t = 0 for 0 < z < H.

(18d)

Reference to figure 4 reveals that solution (15) also satisfies the condition
u
z

0 when z = H for t > 0

and is thus also the solution for one way drainage ( the two way drainage problem can be viewed as
two one-way drainage problems back to back). Further examination reveals that although the
expression for final settlement differs for the two cases the expression for degree of settlement is
precisely the same.

Example - Calculation of settlement at a given time

Figure 7 shows a soil profile, it can be assumed that the sand and gravel are far more permeable than
the clay and so consolidation in them will have occurred instantaneously.

Gravel
Clay

4m

Final settlement=100mm
cv=0.4m2/year

5m

Final settlement=40mm
cv=0.5m2/year

Sand
Clay
Impermeable

Fig.Fig
7 Layered
soil deposit
7 layered
Soil Deposit

It is assumed that the final settlement has for each of the clay layers has been determined by the
methods described in the previous sections and that their values are as indicated on figure 7. It is
required to find the settlement after 1 year
(a) Settlement of the upper Layer
In layer 1 there is two way drainage and so the drainage path H = 2m.

Tv

cvt
H2

0.4 1
0.1
22

Using Figure 5 it can be seen that U = 0.36

and thus the settlement of layer 1 = 100 0.36 = 36mm
(b) Settlement of the lower Layer
In layer 2 there is one way drainage and so the drainage path H = 5m.

Tv

cv t
H2

0.5 1
0.02
52

Using Figure 5 it can be seen that U = 0.16

and thus the settlement of layer 2 = 40 0.36 = 6.4mm
The total settlement after 1 year is thus = 36 + 6.4 = 42.4mm
Example - Use of scaling

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An oedometer specimen reaches 50% settlement after 2 minutes. If the specimen is 10 mm thick
calculate the time for 50% settlement of a 10 m thick layer under conditions of one-way drainage.
In order that the test may be carried out as quickly as possible oedometer tests are normally
conducted with two way drainage and thus the drainage path in the oedometer = 5mm = 0.005m.
For the oedometer test

Tv

cvt
H2

cv 2
0.005 2

80000c v

For the clay layer the drainage path is 10m

Tv

cv t
c t
c t
v 2 v
2
100
H
10

Since the degree of settlement for the two case is the same the two values of the dimensionless time,
Tv are equal and so:

80000 c v

cv t
100

thus t 8000000 min 15.2 years

Example - Calculation of the coefficient of consolidation

The data in the previous example can be used to calculate cv. The dimensionless time for 50%
consolidation is Tv = 0.197 (from Figure 5 Tv 0.2) thus:
0.197

80000c v

thus

cv

2.4625 10 6

m2
min

1.294

m2
year