Determination of Coefficient of Consolidation from Early Stage of Log t Plot
Robinson RG, Allam MM
(Received 0 0; accepted 0 0)

Abstract
The standard curve-fitting methods, Casagrande's log t method and Taylor's root t method, for the determination of the coefficient of consolidation use the later part of the consolidation curve and are influenced by secondary compression effects. Literature shows that secondary compression is concurrent with primary consolidation and that its effect is to decrease the value of the coefficient of consolidation. If the early part of the time-compression data is used, the values obtained will be less influenced by secondary compression effects. A method that uses the early part of the log t plot is proposed in this technical note. As the influence of secondary compression is reduced, the value obtained by this method is greater than that yielded by both the standard methods. The permeability values computed from C_v (obtained from the proposed method) are more in agreement with the measured values than the standard methods showing that the effects of secondary compression are minimized. Time-compression data for a shorter duration is sufficient for the determination of C_v if the coefficient of secondary compression is not required.

Keywords:
coefficient of consolidation, degree of consolidation, permeability, secondary compression

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Author Robinson RG, Allam MM Title Determination of Coefficient of Consolidation from Early Stage of Log t Plot Symposium , Committee on