A new interpretation of the constant rate of strain consolidation test for determining the coefficient of consolidation

• Published in: Journal of engineering mathematics Vol. 134; no. 1
• Main Author: Foriero, Adolfo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.06.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applications of Mathematics; Clay; Coefficients; Computational Mathematics and Numerical Analysis; Consolidation; Mathematical and Computational Engineering; Mathematical Modeling and Industrial Mathematics; Mathematics; Mathematics and Statistics; Strain; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; One-dimensional consolidation; Constant rate of strain; Coefficient of consolidation; Ramp loading; Eigen-function expansion method; Post-ramp loading
• ISSN: 0022-0833; 1573-2703
• DOI: 10.1007/s10665-022-10223-w

This study presents a new method to determine the coefficient of consolidation from a constant rate of strain consolidation test. The method rests on the direct measurement of the total vertical stress applied at the top of a double drained clay specimen. For a sufficiently small time increment, the rate of stress is practically constant and is equivalent to a ramp-loading over the considered time interval. Consequently, a one dimensional consolidation theory was developed for the special case of a double-drained clay specimen subject to a constant rate of loading and having a constant c v . The theory covers the full history of loading namely that of ramp-loading followed by post-ramp-loading. However to determine the coefficient of consolidation during a constant rate of strain test only the ramp-loading portion of the theory is required. The tests in this study revealed that an increase in the displacement rate produces a more rapid rise in the back-calculated value of the consolidation coefficient.