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Determination of Coefficient of Radial Consolidation Using Steepest Tangent Fitting Method

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Abstract

Barron (Trans ASCE 113:718–724, 1948) theoretical relationship between degree of consolidation (U r ) and time factor (T r ) is generally used to determine the coefficient of radial consolidation c r . Several researchers have proposed different laboratory techniques for obtaining the value of c r . However, the usual approach is to compare some salient features of the theoretical U r –T r relationship with the compression, δ and time, t based on the laboratory data. In this paper, rapid consolidation test procedure originally proposed by Su (J Soil Mech Found Div Am Soc Civ Eng No. 95: Proc. Pap. 1729 (1–9), 1958) to determine the coefficient of vertical consolidation (c v ) is extended to evaluate Barron’s coefficient of radial consolidation c r for the case of equal strain. The characteristic feature of the proposed method is the identification of the steepest tangent from the δ–log t plot. The slope of steepest tangent is independent of the drain spacing ratio (n) with a value of 0.847. This approach is rapid, and it predicts more reliable values of c r as it is less influenced by the secondary compression. In addition, this method is more versatile and can be applied for consolidation trends which do not always exhibit the typical S-shape.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. R G Robinson for the permission to use the laboratory test data for the current analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil, Mining & Environmental Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    J. S. Vinod & Buddhima Indraratna

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India

    A. Sridharan

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  1. J. S. Vinod
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  2. A. Sridharan
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  3. Buddhima Indraratna
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Correspondence to J. S. Vinod.

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Vinod, J.S., Sridharan, A. & Indraratna, B. Determination of Coefficient of Radial Consolidation Using Steepest Tangent Fitting Method. Geotech Geol Eng 28, 533–536 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-010-9330-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-010-9330-8

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