Group Members

Ali Farooq CVE172018

Dildar Ali CVE172020

Course Instructor:
Engr. Sami Ullah
Presentation Topic
The Oedometer & Graphical
Representation of data
The Oedometer test

• The characteristics of a soil during

one-dimensional consolidation or
swelling can be determined by means
of the oedometer test(from the greek
word Oedema,Swelling)
• The sample should be undisturbed.
Oedometer
Oedometer
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

 In the oedometer test,stress is applied to the

soil specimen along the vertical axis,while
strain in the horizontal directions is
prevented.

A cylindrical sample(of thickness t and diameter

Dt/D≈1/3)is confined in a metallic ring and loaded
Due to the rigidity of metallic ring
the radial strain of the sample
εr=0.Since the axial strain εa≠0,thus
εa is exactly equal to the
volumetric strain εv(εa=εv).

The confining ring imposes a

condition of zero lateral strain on
the specimen,the ratio of lateral to
vertical effective stress being K0’
Types of Oedometer

The major experimental difficulty with the

oedometer test is side friction:shear stresses
develop a long the cylindrical surface of the
specimen as vertical strains occur.

• The presence of side friction disturbs the1-D

state of strain and prevents some of the
axial force from reaching bottom portions of
the specimen.
Types of Oedometer

• To minimize the effect of these side friction

forces the thickness-diameter ratio of the
specimen is kept as small as
practicable(usually1:3).
• Use of the oedometer with the floating ring
container also helps to minimize the effects of
side friction.

• Many attempts have been made to minimize side

friction through the use of lubricant sand plastic
liner sheets
Types of Oedometer

In a fixed ring oedometer the friction

gradually decreases to zero towards the
bottom.

• A floating ring oedometer has the plane of

zero friction(i.e.the neutral plane)at the
middle of the sample because the sample is
compressed from both sides.
Oedometer with Floating ring

• Floating ring oedometer

Oedometer with Fixed ring
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

The whole assembly sits in an open cell of

water to which the pore water in the
specimen has free access.

The initial pressure will depend on the type

of soil,then a sequence of pressures is
applied to the specimen,each being double
the previous value.
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

• Each pressure is normally maintained for a

period of 24h(in exceptional cases a period of48
h may be required),compression readings being
observed at suitable intervals during this
period.The axial stress is varied in a stress-
controlled manner;

• At the end of the increment period,when the

excess pore water pressure has completely
dissipated,the applied pressure equals the
effective vertical stress in the specimen.
Time-deformation plot during
consolidation for a given load
increment
Successive load increments
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

• The results are presented by plotting the thickness(or

percentage change in thickness)of the specimen or the
void ratio at the end of each increment period against the
corresponding effective stress.The effective stress may be
plotted to either a natural or alog arithmic scale.

• If desired,the expansion of the specimen can be measured

under successive decreases in applied
pressure.However,even if the swelling characteristics of
the soil are not required,the expansion of the specimen
due to the removal of the final pressure should be
measured.
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

Since the settlement of the soil is only due to

change in void ratio, the vertical strain Δεv can
be expressed in terms of the void ratio of the
soil sample at different stages of the test.

• The void ratio at the end of each increment period

can be calculated from the dial gauge reading sand
either the water content or the dry weight of the
specimen at the end of the test.
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)
Oedometer test
Plots showing an initial compression followed by
expansion and recompression.The shapes of the
curves are related to the stress history of the clay.
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

Void ratio-effective stress

relationship
The Oedometer test
(Consolidation test)

• The e–logσ′ relationship for a normally consolidated clay is

linear(or nearly so)and is called the virgin compression
line.

• If a clay is over consolidated,its state will be represented

by a point on the expansion or recompression parts of the
e-logσ′ plot.The recompression curve ultimately joins the
virgin compression line:further compression then occurs
along the virgin line.
• During compression, changes in soil structure
continuously take place and the clay does not
revert to the original structure during expansion.
• The plots show that a clay in the overconsolidated
state will be much less compressible than that in
a normally consolidated state.
The coefficient of volume
compressibility (mv)
It is defined as the volume change per unit volume per unit increase in effective stress. The
units of mv are the inverse of pressure (m2/kN). The volume change may be expressed in
terms of either void ratio or specimen thickness. If, for an increase in effective stress from
0 to 1 , the void ratio decreases from e0 to e1, then:

The value of mv for a particular soil is not constant but depends on the stress range over
which it iscalculated.
The compression index (Cc)

It is the slope of the linear portion of the e - log plot and is

dimensionless. For any two points on the linear portion of the plot:
• Rearrangement of soil particles –
permanent or irrecoverable
• Elastic strains in particles – recoverable
• Compression of bounded water layers-
recoverable
 Soil is described as NC when its state exists
on the steeper line (1 & 4)
 Soil is described as OC when it occurs on
the flatter portions (2 &3)
Preconsolidation pressure

Casagrande proposed an empirical construction to obtain, from the e -

log curve for an overconsolidated clay, the maximum effective
vertical stress that has acted on the clay in the past, referred to as the
preconsolidation pressure c.
Produce back the straight-line part (BC)
of the curve.
• Determine the point
(D) of maximum
curvature on the
recompression part
(AB) of the curve.
• Draw the tangent to
the curve at D and
bisect the angle
between the tangent
and the horizontal
through D.
The vertical through the point of intersection of the bisector and CB
produced gives the approximate value of the preconsolidation pressure.
Preconsolidation pressure

• It is the previous maximum effective stress to which

the soil has been subjected in the past.
• Normally consolidated: A soil is called NC if the
present effective overburden pressure is the maximum
to which the soil has ever been subjected, i.e.
present past maximum
• Over consolidated: A soil is called OC if the present
effective overburden pressure is less than the
maximum to which the soil was ever been subjected
in the past , i.e. present < past maximum
 In the natural condition in the field, a
soil may be either normally consolidated or
overconsolidated.
A soil in the field may become
through several mechanisms:
Preconsolidation pressure

 Whenever possible the preconsolidation

pressure for an overconsolidated clay should not
be exceeded in construction.

 Compression will not usually be great if the

effective vertical stress remains below c only if
c is exceeded compression will be large.
 In the field, the overconsolidation ratio
(OCR) can be defined as: