The influence of several factors on the rate of secondary compression of soil

This research program has been undertaken to study the influence of load increment ratio, temperature, and sample thickness on Cα (rate of secondary consolidation) for a high organic content and low organic content soil. Consolidation equipment was designed to produce constant temperatures both above and below ambient, and to accommodate both 3/4 and 1 1/2 inch thick samples. Samples were molded into oedometer rings at the liquid limit. It was found that Cα was independent of the sample thickness and load increment ratio for both the high organic and low organic soils. The influence of temperature on Cα was found to be dependent upon the effective stress level. Temperature had a major effect on the magnitude of Cα at low effective loads but had little influence at higher effective stress levels --Abstract, page ii