Consolidation Characteristics of Soft Clays

The consolidation characteristics of different soft clays are investigated through seepage induced consolidation test device. In this paper the seepage induced consolidation test device was constructed and used to evaluate compressibility and permeability behavior of fine, low density clays. Conventional consolidation tests usually involve restrictive assumptions on the amount of strain, hydraulic conductivity and coefficient of consolidation which makes them impractical dealing with soft soils at low stress levels. It is difficult to test the compressibility and permeability of these types of soils at low effective stresses with conventional consolidometers. Therefore a consolidation cell, based on seepage force was constructed based on seepage induced consolidation tester (SICT) at University of Colorado at Boulder and the consolidation characteristics of five different soft clays are investigated. Results of this research showed that this method of testing is applicable to the soft soils’ consolidation testing and provides reliable and repeatable data sets.