1D Consolidation using Large Odometer & Remediation of Side Friction

Prediction of consolidation settlement is based on Terzaghi theory & 1D consolidation test. A laboratory test suffers from two phenomena i.e., secondary consolidation & side friction which is not taken into account in the Terzaghi theory. Previous studies revealed that the secondary consolidation can be effectively reduced upon the application of a large load increment ratio, whereas elimination of side friction requires specially coated consolidometer ring having dia. to ht. ratio of six & is likely to be cost prohibitive. A quantitative assessment of the effects of side friction on the consolidation characteristics is necessary to study such effects on the actual prediction of foundation settlements. With this in view, consolidation tests have been conducted on kaolinite & bentonite in a especially Teflon coated large diameter consolidometer ring with dia. to ht. ratio of six & the tests results compared with those obtained from conventional test ring with dia. to ht. ratio of three. The application of correction factors increases the magnitude of predicted consolidation settlement which agrees with the fact that ignoring side friction effect would be an error on the unsafe side.

Autorentext

Author did his PhD in Geotech from IIT Bombay. He worked at Boskalis International; NIT; UNIMAS; & currently working as an Asst. Prof. at SIU Carbondale, USA. Author's teaching & research interests are in geotechnical & geo-environmental engineering. He has published more than 50 technical papers in various refereed journals & conference proceeding