1

12. SETTLEMENTS OF STRUCTURES

12.1 The settlement process
An important task in the design of foundations is to determine the settlement, this is shown
schematically in Figure 1.

Maximum
Settlement
Soil Layer

Fig. 1 Settlement
of a loaded
Fig. 1 Settlement
of afooting
loaded footing
As discussed earlier the skeletal soil material and the pore water are relatively incompressible and any
change in volume can only occur due to change in the volume of the voids. For the volume of the voids
to change, pore water must flow into or out of a soil element. Because this cannot happen
instantaneously when a load is first applied to a soil there cannot be any immediate change in its
volume. For one-dimensional conditions with no lateral strain this implies that there is no immediate
vertical strain and hence that the excess pore pressure is equal to the change in vertical stress.
However, under more general conditions both lateral (or horizontal) and vertical strains can occur.
Immediately after load is applied there will be no change in volume, but the soil deformations will result
in an initial settlement. This is said to occur under undrained conditions because no pore water has
been able to drain from the soil. With time the excess pore pressures generated during the undrained
loading will dissipate and further lateral and vertical strains will occur. Ultimately the settlement will
reach its long term or drained value.
When the load is first applied to the soil there will be a tendency for the more highly stressed parts of
the soil to compress and thus for there to be a reduction in the volume of the voids. The pore water
will respond to this tendency towards a decrease in volume by undergoing an increase in pore water
pressure and so initial excess pore water pressures will develop. Subsequently there will be a flow of
water from regions of high excess pore water pressure to regions of low excess pore water pressure,
and the load induced excess pore water pressures will dissipate. This is the process of consolidation,
and during this process the soil will undergo a settlement which varies with time. Ultimately after a long
period of time all the excess pore water pressures will have dissipated and the settlement of the soil will
cease and it will reach its long term or drained settlement (the term drained is used because all excess
pore water pressures have dissipated and there will be no further drainage of water from the voids
although the voids will still remain saturated). The process of consolidation is shown schematically in
Figure 2.
It should be stated that the process described above represents a simplification because some soils tend

to creep. For such soils there will be additional creep settlements even though the effective stress does
not change.

Total
Stress

Time
Excess
Pore
Pressure

Time

Effective
Stress

Time

Fig. 2a Variation of stress and pore pressure at a typical point under a footing

Settlement
Consolidation
settlement
Final
settlement
Initial
settlement

Time

Fig. 2b Variation of settlement with time

12.2 Analysis of Settlement under three dimensional conditions
Previously the settlement under foundations has been estimated assuming purely one-dimensional
conditions. However, it is clear from consideration of the stress changes (predicted by the theory of
elasticity) under the centre and edges of various loaded areas that in general the stress changes may
differ significantly from those deduced using the purely one-dimensional assumption.
If it is hypothesised that the soil can be treated as a linear isotropic elastic material then solutions for
the settlement can be obtained using the theory of elasticity. This assumption involves a considerable

level of approximation which is necessary because:

real soil behaviour is highly non-linear

the geometry of the foundation is often complex
simple models enable calculations to be easily performed

Linear isotropic elasticity is used because:

closed form solutions which are easily evaluated can be obtained

complicated loadings can be synthesised from simple components using superposition
only 2 material constants are required from (E, , G, K)
the solutions obtained agree with intuition and experience

12.3 Theory of Elasticity for Saturated Soils

In an isotropic elastic solid it is found that Hookes law relates the changes in stress to the changes in
strain as described in equation (1):

xx

yy

zz

xx ( yy zz )
E
yy ( zz xx )

(1a)

E
zz ( xx yy )
E

where xx , yy , zz denote the strains which arise from the changes in stress xx , yy , zz and
where E is Youngs modulus and is Poissons ratio.
Hookes law in this form does not apply to soil except for undrained conditions which will be discussed
later. For soil the correct relationship is one between effective stress and strain as shown below:

xx
yy
zz

xx ( yy zz )
E
yy ( zz xx )

(1b)

E
zz ( xx yy )
E

where E is called the effective stress, or drained, Youngs modulus and is called the effective stress,
or drained, Poissons ratio, and where the increments of effective stress are related to the increments of
total stress and the increment of pore water pressure by:

xx xx u

yy yy u

(1c)

zz zz u
The relationship between effective stress and strain can always be used to calculate the deformation of
soils. However, to do so it is necessary to know both the change in total stress and the change in pore
water pressure. The change in total stress can usually be estimated using elastic solutions, but the
change in pore pressure is, in general, very difficult to determine.
One important case where the effective stresses are known is in the long term. In this situation all
excess pore water pressures have dissipated and thus the change in effective stress is equal to the
change in total stress. The settlement can then be calculated using the effective stress, strain relations.
Equations (1b) can be modified as follows:

xx

xx ( yy zz )
E
xx (1 ) ( yy zz xx )
E
xx (1 ) 3 m
E

(2)

where
m

( yy zz xx )
3

this alternative form of Hookes law is useful as will be seen below.

12.4 Behaviour of an elastic soil under undrained conditions
It was shown above that the long term behaviour of soil can be analysed using Hookes law since all
excess pore pressures have dissipated and so the effective stress equals the total stress. Another
important case which can be analysed using Hookes law is immediately after loading when no water
has drained out of the soil pores and no excess pore pressures have dissipated, i.e. undrained behaviour.
To establish this note that under such conditions there can be no volume change and thus:
v

xx yy zz

(3a)

The volume strain can be calculated using equations (2) and (3a) giving:

3(1 2 ) m
E

If the volume strain is zero the change in mean effective stress is zero and thus:

(3b)

3(1 2 ) m
E

m u

then

(3c)

thus

This enables the increment in excess pore water pressure to be expressed in terms of the total stress.
Using this relation and substitution into equation (2) leads to the following relation between total stress
and strain:
(1 )(2 xx yy zz )

xx

3E

(4)

This and similar expressions for yy and zz are equivalent to Hookes law for undrained loading,
which may be written as:

xx
yy
zz

xx u ( yy zz )
Eu
yy u ( zz xx )
Eu
zz u ( xx yy )

(5)

Eu

The quantities Eu , and u are called the undrained Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio respectively.
By comparing equations (4) and (5) it can be seen that these quantities are related to the drained or
effective stress relations as follows:

Eu
u

3E
2(1 )
1
2

(6)

It is interesting to note that so far there has been no mention of shear behaviour, for shear stresses and
strains Hookes law may be written as:

yz

yz

G
zx
zx
G
xy
xy
G

(7)

where G is a material property called the shear modulus which is related to the effective stress
parameters as follows.
G

E
2(1 )

(8)

It is interesting to observe that:

G

E
Eu
E
u
Gu
2(1 )
3
2(1 u )

(9)

Showing that the shear modulus (and shear strain) is unaffected by the state of drainage in the soil.
It is important to emphasise that the relation between effective stress parameters and undrained
parameters is based on many approximations (soil assumed elastic) and should not be expected to be
exact. Thus, although the undrained value of Poissons ratio will be precisely 1/2 for a saturated soil
because of incompressibility, the undrained Youngs modulus should be measured directly rather than
determined from the effective E value.
12.5 Values of the Elastic Parameters for soils
The selection of parameters to use in elastic analyses of settlement prediction presents considerable
difficulties in geotechnical engineering. Soil is not a linear elastic material. In selecting values for the
"elastic" parameters consideration must be given to:
The initial effective stresses in the ground.
1

The values of E, are both dependent on the mean effective stress, 3 ( xx yy zz ) , with the
moduli increasing with stress level.
The soil stress history
OCR for clays
Relative density (Id) for sands
For a given stress level, the moduli will increase with increasing OCR or I d
The strain level
It is advisable to use an appropriate secant modulus for the expected strain level under the footing.
12.5.1 Values of E'
Typical values may be selected from the following values given in the data sheets (p. 65)

Soft normally-consolidated clays

( 1400 - 4200 kPa)

Medium clays

( 4200 - 8400 kPa)

Stiff clays

( 8400 - 20000 kPa)

Loose normally-consolidated sands

( 7000 - 20000 kPa)

Medium normally-consolidated sands

(20000 - 40000 kPa)

Dense normally-consolidated sands

(40000 - 84000 kPa)

For over-consolidated sands, double the above values.

12.5.2 Values of v'
Soft clay

0.35 - 0.45

Medium clay

0.30 - 0.35

Stiff Clay

0.2 - 0.3

Medium sand

0.3 - 0.35

These typical values should be used with caution. Soils are extremely variable materials and
considerable expertise is needed to determine accurate parameters.
Example - Strains during undrained loading
A cuboidal soil specimen is in equilibrium with a uniform stress acting on all faces of 100 kPa, and no
pore pressure, that is u = 0. The vertical stress is then increased by 90 kPa with the stresses on the other
faces remaining constant and with the sample prevented from draining. Calculate the vertical and lateral
strains if E = 10 MPa and = .
Initially: 1 = 2 = 3 = 100 kPa; u = 0
Analysis of undrained loading can be performed in terms of undrained parameters (Total Stress
Analysis) or drained parameters (Effective Stress Analysis).
1. Total Stress Analysis
Calculate undrained parameters u = 0.5, E u

3E
12 MPa
2 (1 )

Now the total stress changes are xx = 0 kPa, yy = 0 kPa,zz = 90 kPa

Use Hookes Law in terms of Total Stress

zz

zz
1
( zz u ( xx yy ))
Eu
Eu

xx

1
( xx u ( zz yy )) u zz yy
Eu
Eu

Hence
zz = 90/12000 = 0.0075
xx = yy = - 0.5 0.0075 = - 0.00375
2. Effective stress analysis
Changes in effective stress are needed to evaluate the effective Hookes Law relations.
Calculate u = m for undrained loading (see above)
1
3

= ( xx yy zz )
= 90/3 = 30 kPa
Hence xx = - 30 kPa, yy = - 30 kPa,zz = 60 kPa
Now using Hookes Law

xx
yy
zz

xx ( yy zz )
E
yy ( zz xx )
E
zz ( xx yy )
E

30 0.25 ( 30 60)
0.00375
10000

0.00375

60 0.25 ( 30 2)
10000

0.0075

giving the same result as before.

Example Strains during drained loading
If the same sample from example 1 is now allowed to drain and consolidate, without any change to the
applied stresses, what strains will develop.
Only an effective stress analysis is relevant. Total stress analysis cannot be used because the total stress
parameters (Eu, u) are only relevant to undrained loading, that is when deformation occurs at constant

volume.
In this example during consolidation the total stresses remain constant. The effective stress changes are
thus xx = + 30 kPa, yy = + 30 kPa,zz = + 30 kPa, they are all equal to the reduction in
pore water pressure. Then from Hookes Law
xx = yy = zz = 0.0015
Note that the total strains due to the undrained loading followed by consolidation are
xx = yy = - 0.00375 + 0.0015 = -0.00225
zz = 0.0075 + 0.0015 = 0.009
The same total strains are obtained if the load is applied slowly so that no pore pressures are obtained.
In this case the pore pressure change is zero and hence the change in total stress is the same as the
change in effective stress (xx = 0 kPa, yy = 0 kPa,zz = 90 kPa). The strains are then given
by

zz

1
( zz ( xx yy )) zz 0.009
E
E

xx

zz
1
( xx ( zz yy ))
yy 0.00225
E
E

Note that the strains are identical to those determined as a result of undrained loading followed by
consolidation. This result is not surprising when it is remembered that this is an elastic analysis.