Introduction

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 General
When soil mass is subjected to a compressive force, like all other ,its volume decreases. This property of soil due to which a decrease in volume occurs under compressive forces is known as compressibility of soil. Because of this compressibility property of soil any / all foundation of structure starts sinking under applied load. This sinking of foundation of structure into soil is known as settlement of foundation. Settlement of foundation of a structure is its vertical, downward movement due to a volume decrease of the soil on which it is built. We can say that settlement of foundation is gradual sinking of it due to compression of the soil below it. In order to evaluate the suitability of a foundation or structure, it is necessary to design foundation against both bearing capacity failure and excessive settlement. For foundations on cohesive soils, the principal design criterion is to the control of expected settlements within the limits considered tolerable for the structure.

1.2

Foundation Stresses
During construction, surface loads from foundations or structures are

transmitted to the underlying soil profile. As a result, stresses increase within the soil mass and the structure undergoes a time-dependent vertical settlement. The prediction of foundation settlement is based on knowledge of how foundation loads are transferred to the ground and how earth or rock materials respond to resulting increases in stress.

Introduction

These stresses are transferred to the ground under a large and a small footing, each carrying the same unit pressure (Figure 1). The curved lines under the footings are lines of equal increase in stress due to footing load. These lines are known as the "bulb of pressure." The deepest line, indicating a stress increase equal to 10 per cent of the applied load, extends to a depth twice the width of the footing. If a series of narrow footings is installed close together the bulbs of pressure intersect and the influence on the ground is deeper than for an isolated footing. When piles are used, foundation loads are carried to deeper strata. If the piles are long in relation to the width of the building, the effect is much greater than if the piles are relatively short.

Figure 1. Pressure bulb for different type of foundation

1.3

Causes of Foundation Settlement

In addition to foundation settlement under loads, the settlement may

occur due to a number of others causes. 1. Underground erosion: may cause formation of cavities in subsoil which when collapse cause settlement.

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2. Structural collapse of soil: Structural collapse of some soils, such as saline, non-cohesive soils, gypsum, silts and clay and loess, may occur due to dissolution of materials responsible for intergranular bonds of grains. 3. Thermal changes: Temperature change cause shrinkage in expansive soils due to which settlement occurs. 4. Frost heave: This occurs if structure is not founded below the depth of frost penetration. When thaw occurs, the foundation may settle. 5. Vibration and Shocks: Vibrations and shocks cause large settlement, especially in loose, cohessionless soil. 6. Mining subsidence: Subsidence of ground may occur due to removal of minerals and others materials from mines below. 7. Landslides: If landslides occur on unstable slopes, there may be serious settlement problem. 8. Creep: The settlement may also occur due to creep on clay slopes. 9. Changes in the vicinity: If there are changes due to construction of a new building near the existing foundation, the settlement may occur due to increase in stresses.

1.4

Types of Settlement
There are three basic types of settlement: uniform settlement, tilt,

and non-uniform settlement (Figure 2). Uniform settlement and tilt (within reason) do not greatly affect a structure, but resulting movements may cause serious problems with services and appendages such as water mains and connecting tunnels. Non-uniform settlement is characterized by angular distortion and may cause cracks or even structural failure. The degree of angular distortion is indicated by the ratio of differential settlement to distance between supports, /L.

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Figure 2. Types of settlement. The amount of settlement that a building can tolerate known as, the "allowable" settlement which is depends on its size, type and intended use. Settlement is broadly classified as total settlement and differential (uneven) settlement. Total settlement refers to the uniform settlement of the entire structure and occurs due to weight of the structure and imposed loads. Differential or uneven settlement can occur if the loads on the structure are unevenly distributed, variations in the soil properties or due to construction related variations.

1.5

Component of Total Settlement

The total settlement, S, is calculated as sum of following three

components: S= Si + Sc + Ss Where Si is the Immediate Settlement, Sc is the Consolidation Settlement, Ss is the Secondary Consolidation Settlement. Immediate settlement is time-independent and results from shear strains that occur at constant volume as the load is applied to the soil. Although this settlement component is not elastic, it is generally calculated using elastic theory for cohesive soils such as clays.

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Where, Si = immediate settlement of a point on the surface Cs= shape and rigidity factor q= equivalent uniform stress on the footing (total load/footing area) B= characteristic dimension of the footing v= Poissons ratio Eu= undrained elastic modulus (Youngs modulus) Consolidation settlement is occurs due to gradual expulsion of water from the voids of the soil. For consolidation settlement, the rate of void ratio reduction is controlled by the rate at which water can escape from the soil. Therefore, during consolidation, pore water pressure exceeds the steady state condition throughout the depth of the layer. Overtime, the rate of consolidation settlement continuously decreases as effective stresses increase to approach their equilibrium values.

where

is the initial void ratio and H is the initial height of the

compressible layer. The usual practice is not to use the coefficient of compression index (Cc) for normally consolidated soils and the coefficient of recompression index (Cr) for preconsolidated soils in place of void ratio to calculate consolidation settlement
for normally consolidated soils for preconsolidated soils

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Figure 3. Timesettlement curve showing total settlement components. Secondary Consolidation settlement is due to secondary consolidation. This settlement occurs after completion of the primary consolidation. During secondary compression, the rate of void ratio reduction is controlled by the rate of compression of the soil skeleton itself. As such, it is essentially a creep phenomenon that occurs at constant vertical effective stress and without sensible excess pressure in the pore water. Secondary consolidation may also be due to progressive fracture of the interparticle bonds and the particles themselves. The secondary consolidation is not significant for inorganic clays and silty soils. The rate of secondary consolidation is given by the secondary compression index (Ct), as given below:

Where e is change in void ratio between time t1 and t2

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is more commonly used. It is given by,

Where ep = void ratio at the end of primary consolidation. The magnitude of the secondary consolidation is given by: Ss = Ct. H log10 (t2/t1) The timesettlement relationship shown in Figure 3 is conceptually valid for all soil types. However, large differences exist in the magnitude of the components and the rate at which they occur for different soils.

1.6

Differential settlement
"Differential settlement" means one part of a building foundation

moves at a different rate or for a different amount than other parts of the foundation or wall. Differential settlement can damage the foundation or wall with cracks and other symptoms of wall movement. These cracks can run generally up and down or in a stair step fashion (up then over, then up, then over, and so on).

Differential settlement occurs for a number of reasons:

local variations in soil compressibility, variation in thickness of compressible soil, differences in footing sizes and pressures, variation in applied loads, overlapping stresses,

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Differences in depth of embedment of footings.

If foundation loads vary, the differential settlement can be more serious even when sub-soils are relatively uniform.

1.7

Expansive Soil
Soil is one of the most commonly encountered materials in civil

engineering. All the structures except some, which are founded on enormous problems, solid rock, rest ultimately on soil. Geotechnical engineers all over the world face enormous problems, when the soil founding those structures is in expansive in nature. This expansiveness is imparted to such soils when they contain clay minerals such as montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite etc. in appreciable quantity. It is due to them (clay mineral) that the swelling soils expand on wetting and are subjected to shrinkage on drying. The problem of instability of structures constructed on such soil is mainly due to lifting up of the structures on heaving of soil mass (under the foundation) on saturation during rainy season and settlement due to shrinkage during summer season. Due to this, cavities are formed leading to loss of contact between the soil and structures at some points. This in turn leads to splitting of structures and failure due to loss of shear strength or unequal settlement.

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Table1. Soil expansivity predicted, based on liquid limit, plastic limit and other measures are given below as per IS 1498:1970. Plasticity index (Ip )% <12 12-23 23-32 >32 Per cent Shrinkage limit % >13 8-18 6-12 <10 Free swell index % <50 50-100 100-200 >200 expansion in as per Holtz and Gibbs <10 10-20 20-30 >30

Degree of

Liquid

Expansion limit (wl)% Low Medium High Very High 20-35 35-50 50-70 70-90