Analysis of Settlement and Volume Expansion

Soil compresses under load, and some soils swell when they get wet. This chapter explains how to evaluate settlement and volume expansion so a structure stays within tolerable movement. It covers limitations of settlement and the evaluation of settlement for static loads and for dynamic and transient loads.

It also covers applications with unstable foundation soil, ways of coping with soil movements, the consolidation tests used to measure compressibility, and the analysis of volume expansion. Use this chapter to understand why a foundation settles, how much movement to expect, and how long it will take.

In this chapter

• Introductionpage 415
  • Overview
  • General Considerations and Definitions
• Limitations of Settlementpage 417
  • General
  • Total Settlement
  • Differential Settlement
• Evaluation of Settlement for Static Loadspage 424
  • General
  • Components of Settlement
  • Immediate Settlement of Cohesionless Soil for Static Loads
  • Immediate Settlement of Cohesive Soil for Static Loads
  • Primary Consolidation Settlement
  • Secondary Compression and Creep
• Evaluation of Settlement for Dynamic and Transient Loadspage 478
  • General
  • Settlement from Earthquakes
  • Settlement from Repeated Loads and Creep
• Applications with Unstable Foundation Soilpage 496
  • Unstable Soils
  • Heaving Soil
  • Collapsible Soil
• Coping with Soil Movementspage 516
  • Minimizing and Tolerating Soil Movements
  • Remedial Methods
  • Dealing with Approach Embankment Settlement
• Consolidation Testspage 539
  • Introduction
  • Apparatus
  • Calibration of Equipment
  • Preparation of Specimens
  • Procedure
  • Basic Computations
  • Other Quantities Obtainable from Consolidation Testing
  • Presentation of Results
  • Possible Errors
  • Other Test Methods
• Analysis of Volume Expansionpage 556
  • Causes of Volume Expansion
  • Magnitude of Volume Expansion
  • Swell and Swell Pressure Tests