STANDARD ONE-DIMENSIONAL CONSOLIDATION TEST

1.0 Management Requirement

It is practical to have consolidation test duration of 10 days, and after test on overnight specimen
moisture content determination with reporting work the next day. The suggested schedule of loading to
unloading stages is presented in Table 3. The ideal procedure of having 7-loadings and 3-unloadings
may be subjected to combination of loading/unloading changes resulting in less or more test duration
days. There shall be a provisional costing (per day rate) for any additional test duration over 10 days.
This condition is to consider specific management and technical requirements as follows:
a) When the scheduled 7th day maximum stress in Table 3, for extremely soft to firm soil, need to
be further loaded to the 8th day and the minimum 3-unloadings maintained (Total: 11 days). This
is for a better estimation to the near-linear portion (last 3-loadings) of the Cc gradient. The
acceptable alternative is to have 8-loadings and 2-unloadings to meet the normal 10 days
duration. The report shall usually have only the t90 settlement calculations from graphical plots,
Pc, Cc, Cv, Mv, e log stress plots and relevant data.
b) The request for secondary consolidation determination is customer specific (Engineer’s
requirement). It is normal to identify a stress condition for an extended duration of 48 hours or
more. This will exceed the normal 10 days duration. Not all loadings need to have extended
duration, as the scheduled completion time may be essential. The report shall usually have both
the t90 and t50 settlement calculations from graphical plots, Pc, Cc, C, Cv, Mv, e log stress
plots and relevant data.
2.0 Technical Requirement for Loading and Unloading
The consolidation test in determination of the magnitude and rate of the consolidation of a saturated or
near-saturated specimen of soils is according to:
a) BS1377: 1990 - British Standard Methods of test for Soils for civil engineering purposes
Part 5, Clause 3: Determination of the one-dimensional properties.
b) BS EN ISO 17892-5: 2017, Geotechnical investigation and testing-Laboratory testing of soil, Part 5:
Incremental loading oedometer test.
c) MS1056: 2005 – Malaysian Standard Soils for Civil Engineering Purposes-Test Method
Part 5, Clause 4: Determination of the one-dimensional properties.
d) ASTM D2435-11 – Standard Test Methods for One-Dimensional Consolidation Properties of Soils
Using Incremental Loading.
e) Head, K.H., 1994, Manual of Soil Laboratory Testing, Volume 2, Section 14
Table 1 – Suggested initial stress for consolidation test
Soil Consistency Initial stress
Very low, typically 6 kPa or 12 kPa.
Very soft Initial consolidation under a small load will give added strength
to prevent squeezing out under next load increment.
Soft Appreciably less than ’vo, usually 25 kPa or less.

Firm Somewhat less than ’vo, preferably using the next lower
recommended pressure.
Equal to ’vo, or the next higher recommended pressure if ’vo
Stiff
is less than ps.
represents the estimated present vertical effective stress in situ at the horizon
’vo from which the specimen was taken.
ps represents the swelling pressure.
After BS 1377: 1990, Part 5, Table 1

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 Table 2 – Suggested loading stress
Loading Stages
Soil Consistency Remark
Stress, kPa Load, gm
Very soft soils 6.25 125
(extended range) 12.5 250
25 500
50 1000 Based on Specimen  50mm
Normal range 100 2000 and Beam Ratio of 10:1
Soft to Firm 200 4000
400 8000 Stress, kPa = Load, gm x 0.05
800 16,000
Stiff / overconsolidated 1,600 32,000
(extended range) 3,200 64,000
After K.H.Head, 1994 – manual of soil laboratory testing, Volume 2, Table 14.12

Table 3 – Suggested schedule loading and unloading stages

Load Unloading Day
Soil Loading Day Sequence
& Sequence
Consistency
Stress 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
kg 0.0625 0.125 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 2 0.5 0.0625
Extremely soft
kPa 3.125 6.25 12.5 25 50 100 200 100 25 3.125
kg 0.125 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 4 1 0.125
Very soft
kPa 6.25 12.5 25 50 100 200 400 200 50 6.25
kg 0.25 0.5 1 2 4 8 16 8 2 0.25
Soft
kPa 12.5 25 50 100 200 400 800 400 100 12.5
kg 0.5 1 2 4 8 16 32 16 4 0.5
Firm
kPa 25 50 100 200 400 800 1600 800 200 25
kg 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 32 8 1
Stiff
kPa 50 100 200 400 800 1600 3200 1600 400 50

Note:
1. Figure in bold denotes maximum stress for the estimated soil consistency.

2.1 Loading for Secondary Compression

Each loading is 24 hours unless specified to be 48 hours or more. The secondary compression
procedure is an appendage (addition) that is time-dependent. An applied load can be determined
(stress stage identified) for extended duration and specified by the Engineer based on design criteria or
by calculated effective overburden pressure. This means that the load remains unchanged for
cumulative 48 hours (2 days) to better establish the linear portion of the secondary compression portion
of the curve. An extended duration can be up to 168 hours (7 days or 10,080 minutes) for a complete
one cycle of log time. It is rare to extend any further as prolonged secondary compression can affect
the primary consolidation characteristics of succeeding loading sequence (stages).

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2.2 Unloading for Recompression index, Cr or Swell Index, Cs
It is normal practice for unloading (rebound) the test specimen after loading to maximum stress in a
standard one-dimensional consolidation test. The procedure is guided by test standards as follows:

a) BS 1377: 1990, Part 5, Clause 3.5.3-Unloading (Note 1). “Normally the number of unloading
stages should be at least half the number of loading stage”.
b) BS EN ISO 17892-5: 2017, Clause 6.5.1.6, Page 8 - It is recommended to include one or more
unload/reload loops in the loading sequence. Normally, the number of unloading stages during
each unloading should be at least two.
c) Head, K.H., 1994, Volume 2, Section 14.5.5 (19), page 389 – “Usual practice is to unload and
allow swelling in about half the number of stages as were applied during consolidation, with not
less than two unloading stages”. The author was engaged as Drafting Consultant for the
revision of BS 1377.
d) ASTM D2435/D2435M-2011,
Clause 1.3 – It shall be the responsibility of the agency requesting this test to specify the
magnitude and sequence of each load increment, including the location of a rebound cycle, if
required.
Clause 11.4.5 – An alternative loading, unloading, or reloading schedule may be employed that
reproduces the construction stress changes or allows better definition of some part of the
stress-strain (compression) curve, or aids in interpreting the field behavior of the soil, or is
specified by the requesting agency.
When the stress on a test specimen is reduced, there is an initial immediate heave (rapid primary swell)
followed by a long-term secondary swelling which becomes linear on a log-time plot. The Cr or Cs is
usually not sensitive to whether it is two, three or four unloading stages as to the linear behavior of
unloading. The unloading sequence can be based on technical considerations as follows:
a) Equally spaced 3 to 4 points on a log pressure scale
b) Halving the total (maximum) stress in reverse order of loading stages.
c) One-fourth as large as the preceding stress, that is, skips every other stress.
d) Alternative unloading schedule of at least two stages to half and one-fourth maximum or half to
the lowest initial stress.
e) Alternative unloading schedule – Table 3.

Example:
Two stages unloading to half and one-fourth maximum.
Source: BS EN ISO 17892-5: 2017, Clause 7.3.5.1, Figure 2

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