Civil and Building Engineering.

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Figure 3.4 Example of gradation curves for well-graded and gap-graded soils.

Figure 3.5 A one-dimensional settlement problem.

horizontal planes. Under these conditions, the soil cannot deform laterally. In fact, in a one-dimensional consolidation problem, neither soil deformation nor water flow can occur in the horizontal direction, only in the vertical direction.
To simplify this problem, the following conditions are assumed:
• The subsoil is homogeneous, that is, it has the same properties everywhere in a layer.
• The subsoil is saturated, that is, all voids between the soil particles are filled with water, and no gas bubbles are present in the spaces between the soil particles.

1 Laboratory Tests for Consolidation of Soils: To determine what would happen in the field, foundation engineers obtain soil samples from the field and test the samples in the laboratory...

2 Spring and Piston Model of Consolidation: The mechanics of consolidation will be presented using a simple model of a spring and piston, shown in Figure 3.8, where a saturated soil is represented by a piston that moves up and down in a cylinder...

3 Determination of Initial Total Stresses: A homogeneous soil deposit with a horizontal ground surface is shown in Figure 3.9, and the vertical stress at depth z is desired...

4 Calculation of Total and Effective Stresses: The total vertical stress at a depth of 10 ft in a saturated clay that has an average water content of 22% will be calculated below as an example calculation of total and effective stresses...

5 The Role of Effective Stress in Soil Mechanics: The influence of effective stress is found throughout soil mechanics...