Estimation of Preconsolidation Pressure

e Preconsolidation A pressure (c) for an OC soil can be estimated from the elog(v) curve using Casagrandes procedure.

c
D B C

Horizontal line at D Bisector Tangent at D

Consolidation Settlements
Lecture No. 13 October 29, 2002

log(v) Casagrandes procedure has the following steps:

1. Extend the straight line part (BC) of the curve. 2. Determine the point of maximum curvature (point D) on the recompression part (AB) of the curve. 3. Draw a horizontal line and a tangent at point D and bisect the angle between these two lines. 4. The intersection point of the bisector and the extended straight line BC gives the preconsolidation pressure (c). 2

Preconsolidation Pressure Key Points

The preconsolidation pressure for an overconsolidated soil should not be exceeded in construction, if possible. Consolidation settlements will small if the effective vertical stress in the soil layer remains below its preconsolidation pressure. If effective vertical stress in the soil layer exceeds its preconsolidation pressure, the consolidation settlements will be large due to further yielding of the soil layer. The estimation of preconsolidation pressure is greatly affected by the amount of disturbance experienced by the soil sample.
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Preconsolidation Pressure: Effect of Disturbance Figure on the right shows elog(v) curves for two soil e samples sample A is relatively undisturbed and Sample B sample B is disturbed. An increase in the degree of disturbance results in a decrease in the slope of the compression line.
Sample A

log(v)

It also makes the point of maximum curvature difficult to establish due to a much more gradual transition from recompression to compression. As a result, there may be errors in the estimated value of the preconsolidation pressure.
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In-situ e-log(v) curve Inlog(

e Even a perfect soil sample E e0 In-situ Inhas some degree of disturbance. Therefore, the in-situ compression line is Oedometer likely to have a slightly higher slope than that F 0.42e0 obtained from an oedometer test. c log(v) Schmertmann found out that the oedometer compression line meets the in-situ compression line at a void ratio of approximately 0.42 times the initial in-situ void ratio e0. Once the preconsolidation pressure is obtained using Casagrandes procedure, points E and F on insitu compression line can easily be fixed. 5

Consolidation Settlement 1-D Method

sc For the calculation of consolidation settlement z using the 1-D method, the H value of either the coefficient of volume dz compressibility (mv) or the Compression Index At the completion of (Cc) is required. consolidation, the soil layer will experience Lets consider a layer of an increase in saturated soil of thickness effective vertical H subjected to an increase stress of and as a in total vertical stress of result, its void ratio as shown in the figure will reduce from e0 to on the right. e1. 6

Settlements 1-D Method (Continued..) Therefore, the volumetric e strain in the soil layer can e0 be written in terms of void e ratio as: e1 V e0 e1 = v = V0 1 + e0 0 1 Since the soil layer has undergone 1-D consolidation, the lateral strains are zero and therefore, the volumetric strain is equal to the vertical strain (the change in thickness of the soil layer over its initial thickness). Therefore, the settlement of the soil layer is given H H H by: e0 e1 e0 e1
sc = 1 + e dz = (1 + e ) dz = mv dz 0 0 0 0 0
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Settlements 1-D Method (Continued..) If mv and are constant with depth, then
sc = mv H

In order to take the variation of mv and/or with depth, a graphical procedure shown in the figure below can be used to determine sc.
0 mv mv Area = sc (a) (b) (c)

The area in (c) gives the settlement sc and can be estimated using Simpsons rule.

Settlement of NC Soil using Cc

e e0 e1 Compression Line [Slope Cc]

Settlement of an OC Soil using Ce and Cc

e e0 e1 Recompression Line [Slope Ce] Compression Line [Slope Cc]

log(v)

1 c

log(v)

For a normally consolidated (NC) soil, settlement can be calculated using the Compression Index (Cc) as:
sc = e0 e1 H 0 H = Cclog( 1 ) 1 + e0 1 + e0
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For an overconsolidated (OC) soil, if the preconsolidation pressure (c) is not exceeded, the settlements can be calculated using the Expansion Index (Ce) as: e e1 H 0 sc = 0 H = Celog( 1 ) 1 + e0 1 + e0

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Settlement of an OC Soil (Continued..)

e e0 e1 Recompression Line [Slope Ce] Compression Line [Slope Cc]

Settlement Calculation An Example

Depth The soil profile at a site for a proposed office building is 0m shown in the figure on the 3 right. The void ratio of the two sand layers is 0.76. The clay Fine Sand layer is overconsolidated with OCR = 1.5, w = 38%, Cc = 10.4 Clay 0.3 and Ce = 0.05. Gs = 2.7 12.4 for all the soils. The building Coarse Sand will impose a vertical stress increase of 140 kPa at the middle of the clay layer. [This example will be solved during the lecture.] Estimate the final consolidation settlement of the clay.
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c 1

log(v)

If, however, the preconsolidation pressure is exceeded, both Cc and Ce values will be required for the calculation of settlements:
sc = e0 e1 H c H = [Celog( ) + C clog( 1 )] c 0 1 + e0 1 + e0