1.2. Total Settlement Components

Try these first

1. 1.

   What is immediate settlement?

   Hint

   Think of how quickly things change when a load is added.

2. 2.

   Define secondary consolidation.

   Hint

   Consider how soil behaves over an extended period.

3. 3.

   What causes immediate settlement?

   • Water displacement
   • Elastic deformation
   • Soil rearrangement

   Hint

   Think about how materials react when loads are applied.

4. 4.

   True or False: Primary consolidation ceases when all excess pore water pressure dissipates.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Consider what happens at the end of water evacuation.

5. 5.

   Given a surface pressure of 200 kPa, a soil layer thickness of 10m, and a permeability of 1.0e-6 m/s, discuss how long primary consolidation will take.

   Hint

   Link the thickness and hydraulic conductivity to estimate time.

6. 6.

   A building's design was based on a total settlement of 5 cm across three soil types. The immediate settlement is 1.5 cm, and primary is 3 cm. What is the expected secondary consolidation?

   Hint

   Use the total settlement equation to find the unknown.