LECTURE 3 UNDERSTANDING SETTLEMENT AND ITS

CONSEQUENCES

LECTURE 3
UNDERSTANDING SETTLEMENT AND
ITS CONSEQUENCES

Prof. Ir. Dr. Ramli Nazir

Centre of Tropical Geoengineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

INSPIRING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINDS

WHAT IS SETTLEMENT ?

Settlements refer to the soil's movement

in the vertical direction typically induced
by stress changes

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• Settlement cause a deformation of soil due to its

compressibility behavior which can cause damage to
the structure.

• Whether the soil is moist or dry is central to predicting

the amount of settlement to expect in a given
foundation.

• Areas with moist soils will have more foundation

settlement than dry areas. The idea is that as void is
squeezed out from the soil, the structure will shift
according to the empty spaces the water left. The
more void, the more shift.

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TYPE OF SETTLEMENT

Immediate or Elastic Settlement: Occurs immediately after the construction. This is computed using elasticity theory
(Important for Granular soil)

Primary Consolidation: Due to gradual dissipation of pore pressure induced by external loading and consequently expulsion
of water from the soil mass, hence volume change. (Important for Inorganic clays)

Secondary Consolidation: Occurs at constant effective stress with volume change due to rearrangement of particles.
(Important for Organic soils)
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For any of the above mentioned settlement calculations, we first need vertical stress increase in soil mass due to
net load applied on the foundation

ELASTIC SETTLEMENT

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Infrastructure failure in compressible area

Septic Tank

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MECHANISM OF FAILURE AND

HOW TO MEASURE??

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IMMEDIATE SETTLEMENT

• Immediate settlement concerns the initial pressure on

the soil under and surrounding the foundation.

• It is "immediate" because it occurs during and right

after construction.

• It has nothing to do with water displacement, but is

merely caused by the weight of the structure.

• In terms of building foundations, immediate settlement

is relatively easy to predict and measure.

• Immediate settlement takes place as the load is

applied or within a time period of about 7 days.

• Predominates in cohesionless soils and unsaturated clay

• Immediate settlement analysis are used for all fine-

grained soils including silts and clays with a degree of
saturation < 90% and for all coarse grained soils with
large co-efficient of permeability (say above 10-2 m/s)

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• Si = immediate settlement
• q = loading
• B = width of footing
• I = shape or rigidity factor
• m = Poisson ratio
• Eu = Young Modulus of the Soil
Or initial Tangetial Modulus

WHY WE USE UNDRAINED VALUE ???

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CONSOLIDATION SETTLEMENT

• Consolidation settlement is distinguished from

immediate settlement both by the duration of the
settlement and by displacement of water.

• Consolidation is the more worrisome form of settlement

because it is difficult to predict over months or years.

• Consolidation settlement is the settling of a foundation,

over time, due to pressure exerted by the structure and
squeezes out the water content of the soil, thus
compressing it.

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CONSEQUENCES

• Expulsion of moisture from the soil usually is a long-term

process.

• Consolidation settlements are time dependent and

take months to years to develop. The principal
settlements for most projects occur in 3 to 10 years.

• Dominates in saturated/nearly saturated fine grained

soils where consolidation theory applies.

STAGE 1 Ds = Du

Ds=Ds’ + Du
STAGE 2
Ds’ > 0
Du < Ds

STAGE 3 Ds = Ds’

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TYPE OF CONSOLIDATION

• Consolidation settlement has two components, primary

and secondary.

• Primary consolidation is the most significant and

potentially harmful of the two. Primary consolidation
takes quite a bit of time, from weeks to years.

• Secondary consolidation is the quicker result of primary

consolidation. Secondary consolidation occurs
immediately after primary, and takes far less time to
complete.

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• After secondary consolidation is complete, the

structure remains in its permanent position.

• As a result, many builders advise residents in new

homes to avoid repairing any settlement damage until
secondary consolidation is complete, which is normally
after two years at most.

• Occurs under constant effective stress due to

continuous rearrangement of clay particles into a more
stable configuration.

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PRIMARY
CONSOLIDATION

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ASSUMPTION MADE ON ONE DIMENSIONAL

CONSOLIDATION
1. The soil is homogeneous
2. The soil is fully saturated
3. Solid particles and water are incompressible
4. Compression and flow only one dimensional (vertical)
5. Strains are small
6. Darcy law valid at all hydraulic gradient
7. Soil is isotropic
8. Unique relationship, independent of time, between void
ratio and effective stress.

Note: Non of the above comply with the natural state of

soil condition??? Do you think our prediction is
accurate???

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PARAMETERS NEEDED FOR TIME-

DEPENDENT DEFORMABILITY
• Preconsolidation Stress (s’p) : The maximum overburden
stress experienced by the soil during its geologic history.

• Most natural soil preconsolidate to some degree, either by

erosion, dessication, aging or other activities.

• The ratio of preconsolidation stress to current effective stress

is call OCR and is used to describe the stress state.

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• Compression Index : Slope of void ratio (e) versus log of vertical

effective stress.

• The slope corresponds to the normally consolidated state with

OCR = 1.

• If the soil is unloaded vertically, it will rebound or swell along an

unloading line. The subsequent reloading will follows a similar
path.

• The differences between unloading and reloading normally are

small and are neglected in practice.
• Average value of Cr is often used.

• Soil existing on the Cr line represent overconsolidated (OC)

state.

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• Coefficient of consolidation, cv : Rate of primary

settlement with time and is found by interpreting
laboratory curves of settlement with time.

• Technically the cv incorporated with time, thickness of

compressibility layer, permeability and constrained
modulus (M = 1/mv).

• Time Factor : Depends upon the drainage boundaries,

geometry and percent dissipation of excess pore water
stresses.

• For one-dimensional loading, the time factor for 50%

consolidation is 0.197. For 90% consolidation, the time
factor is 0.848.

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If normal consolidate clay

where
Ds = Ds’ (exhibit linear line)

rp : primary consolidation
settlement (m)
s’o : Initial vertical effective
stress at sublayer i. (kPa)
Ds’i : Increase in vertical stress
at sublayer i . (kPa)
Hi : Initial thickness of
incremental soil layer, i of n.
eo : initial void ratio
Cc : Compression index

rp : primary consolidation settlement

(m)
s’o : Initial vertical effective stress (kPa)
Ds’ : Increase in vertical stress (kPa)
s’ c : Preconsolidation pressure / Yield
Stress (kPa)
H : Initial thickness of compressible layer
eo : initial void ratio
Cs : Swelling curve index.
Cs/Cc ~ 0.2

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SECONDARY
CONSOLIDATION

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• Secondary compression follows primary consolidation.

• Two types of secondary compression

• Secondary consolidation
• Creeping

• Due to particles arrangement to find the stable arrangement.

• Predominates in highly plastic clays and organic clays.

• Decision on ground improvement depend on this.

• This is defined by the coefficient of secondary compression (Ca).

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RATE OF SETTLEMENT
• For one dimensional consolidation the rate of
consolidation is determine through Degree of
Consolidation, Uv which is a function of Time Factor, Tv.

• The average degree of consolidation as a function of

time factor for Terzaghi’s theory of consolidation by
vertical flow is given by :

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if

if

d = drainage flow, Hd = d for one flow direction and Hd = d/2 for 2

flow direction

PRESSURE ISOCHRONE

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• The cv value can be obtained directly from laboratory

test at the levels of effective stress similar to those
anticipated under embankment loading.

• Another reliable way is from the field in situ permeability

tests together with mv i.e :-

cv = k/mvgw

• The use of field values of k will give better representative

values.

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DO WE REALLY NEED TO
CALCULATE?
• The first step of calculating expected settlement (overall and
differential) is to calculate the initial effective vertical stress (so’ = total
vertical stress - pore water pressure) and the change in the effective
vertical stress (Dso’) caused by the facility on a point of interest in the
underlying materials.

• The values added together are the effective vertical stress (so’ + Dso’)
exerted upon the materials that will cause settlement.

• When calculating effective vertical stress in situations where no

differential settlement will occur, a one-dimensional approximation of
the settlement may be used.

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LECTURE 3 UNDERSTANDING SETTLEMENT AND ITS
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• This can be accomplished by calculating the weight of

the material directly above the point of interest.

• When calculating the effective vertical stress where

strain may be developed due to differential settlement,
a two-dimensional stress distribution theory should be
used.

• Once so’ and Dso’ have been calculated, a typical

settlement analysis would be performed.

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• Values obtain for settlement is the prediction values.

• The value will be use for the preparation of

constructions and Post Construction evaluations.

• Related design with settlement such as:

• Ground Improvement using PVD and Preloading
• Surcharge and Preloading
• Reclamation on Soft Ground
• Serviceability analysis.
• Evaluating highly compressible soil

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LECTURE 3 UNDERSTANDING SETTLEMENT AND ITS
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• Calculated settlement parameters are needed for

preliminary assessment of site.

• However, the main concern is consolidation settlement.

• Many methods available to predict the settlement;

Terzaghi, Janbu, Rowe, Schmertmann, De Beer and
Martin etc..

EMPIRISICM CONSOLIDATION
PARAMETERS
• Direct test – Oedometer Test

• e vs log10 sv’

• to obtain mv, cv, k, Cc and Pc

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Void Ratio

cv m²/year

Coefficient of Volume
Change
mv x 10ˉ³ m²/ KN

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COMPRESSION INDEX, CC AND

RECOMPRESSION INDEX, CR
a) Cc = 0.009 (LL – 10%) - For inorganic soils, with
sensitivity less than 4
b)Cc = 0.007 (LL – 10%) - For normally
consolidated clay
c)Cc = 0.0115 Wn - For organic soils, peat
d)Cc = 1.15 ( eo – 0.35) - For all clays
e)Cc = (1 + eo ) [0.1 + ( Wn – 25)0.006] - For varved clays
f)Cc = 0.5*PI*Gs - For OC clays

NB - A varve is an annual layer of sediment or sedimentary rock. The word 'varve' derives from
the Swedish word varv whose meanings and connotations include 'revolution', 'in layers', and
'circle'. The term first appeared as Hvarfig lera (varved clay) on the first map produced by the
Geological Survey of Sweden in 1862.

COMPRESSION INDEX, CC AND RECOMPRESSION INDEX, CR

• For inorganic normally-consolidated Klang Clay (Tan et

al., 2004):
• Cc = 0.02LL – 0.87
• Cc = 0.61eo – 0.17
• Cc = 0.02 Wn – 0.37
• Cr ≈ (0.1 to 0.2)* Cc

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COEFFICIENT OF SECONDARY
COMPRESSION, Ca
• Ca / Cc = 0.04 ± 0.01 For inorganic soft clays

• Ca / Cc = 0.02 ± 0.01 For granular soils including

rockfill

• Ca / Cc = 0.03 ± 0.01 For shale and mudstone

• Ca / Cc = 0.05 ± 0.01 For organic clays and silts

• Ca / Cc = 0.06 ± 0.01 For peat and muskeg

HOW TO VERIFY
SETTLEMENT?

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MONITORING
• Any geotechnical works need to be verified since this is
part of the design procedure.
• The purpose is to justify the reliability of the design
methods and parameters used in the design.
• Semi empirical approach is the most reliable method in
geotechnical analyses.

Mathematical Analyses + Full Scale = Reliability of Design

• Monitoring in real time is vital for future maintenance

purposes.
• For future reference and re engineering process.

MONITORING
• Monitoring during construction is mandatory to look
into the performance of the system.
• Instrumentation commonly use such as :
• Piezometer
• Extensometer
• Settlement Plate
• Settlement Gauge
• Inclinometer
• Time taken depend on the anticipation analysis use.
Normally 2 weeks for longer rest period and 1 week for
shorter period.

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INSTRUMENTATIONS

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PARAMETERS &
MEASUREMENT
• Deformation/Movement
• Inclinometer
• Extensometer
• Ground Movement Marker
• Tiltmeter
• Crackmeter
• Settlement gauge
• Water/Earth Pressure
• Piezometer, Observation Well
• Earth Pressure Cell

PARAMETERS &
MEASUREMENT
• Load/Stress/Strain
• Strain Gauges
• Load Cell
• Thermal
• Thermal Coupler
• Flow
• V-Notch Gauge
• Vibration
• Accelerometer

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PIEZOMETER

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EXTENSOMETER

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SETTLEMENT GAUGE

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SETTLEMENT MARKER

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CONCLUSIONS
• Three types of settlement occurs due to load action.
• Settlement need to be calculated to anticipate or
predict the compressibility magnitude of the soil.
• Designing on compressible soil is not as the same in
designing on a normal soil.
• Uncertainties in soft ground cause a big challenge for
engineers to design.
• Monitoring will reduce the uncertainties occurs in
settlement.
• Engineering is not about calculating or obtaining results
accurately but it is more on the reliability and
judgement.

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• Uncertainties in soft ground cause a big challenge for

engineers to design.

• Uncertainties that reasonably exist are lightning rods for

contractual claims because they are interpreted as
sources of ambiguity under the contract

• Geotechnical expert (Not experience engineer) shall

be call upon to resolve the issues related to
Geotechnical initially before construction started.
Normally at design stage.

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• Improvement method shall be closely monitored with

full-time SUPERVISION with team of suitable experience
on site.

• Designers need to layout their planning and scheduling

prior to the construction on soft ground including
possible cause of modes of failure (arts of anticipation)

• Observational Method through instrumentation is

recommended.

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• Extra Care on TEMPORARY WORKS when needed

especially for excavation. This need to be anticipate as
it will increase the construction cost.

• Understand the Limitation of Software used . It may not

check all the required modes of failures. It is a tools to
expedite design process.

• STRUCTURED training programmes (enhance technical

knowledge & share lessons learned)
• Group discussions
• Colloquium
• Classes

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• DO NOT

• Abuse geotechnical design, detailed analysis

• Overlook localised weak zones

• Overlook structural detailing

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• Engineering is not about calculating or obtaining results

accurately but it is more on the reliability and
judgement.

• Finally our judgement and feels will dictate the final

results of the design.

END OF LECTURE 3

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