A New Equation to Predict the Primary Consolidation Settlement of Clays

In Geotechnical Engineering, consolidation of clays and its in situ prediction plays an important role, as the calculation of the possible settlement of any structure is crucial in any foundation design. The calculation of the settlement is now carried out based the theory proposed by Karl Terzaghi. Over a period of time, many limitations of this theory have been identified. In this paper, an attempt is made to derive a new equation for accurately predicting the primary consolidation of clays. As predicted settlement values using conventional method vary much from the actual, most of the previous attempts were to correct or modify the value of the coefficient of consolidation. However, these corrections have not yielded desirable results to achieve accurate predicted values. The derivation of the conventional equation is revisited and a modification is proposed. The procedure is drawn in similar lines as that of the existing method to retain all the relevant terminologies that have been established in the field. This is done by modifying the relevant coefficients and factors. The newly derived expressions are explicit and direct for predicting the settlement at any stage. An example is also illustrated to demonstrate its validity and applicability.