Consolidation Theory

As explained in Chapter 3, consolidation is the gradual reduction in volume of a fully saturated soil of low permeability due to drainage of some of the pore water, the process continuing until the excess pore water pressure set up by an increase in total stress has completely dissipated: the simplest case is that of one-dimensional consolidation, in which a condition of zero lateral strain is implicit. The process of swelling, the reverse of consolidation, is the gradual increase in volume of a soil under negative excess pore water pressure.