Determination of the consolidation coefficient of low compressibility materials: application to fresh cement-based materials

International audienceThis paper focuses on the determination of the consolidation characteristics of mineral materials. The main objectives were to improve measurement accuracy and to reduce test duration. Consolidation characteristics govern fluid migration and the evolution of the properties; compressibility, permeability and consolidation coefficient are required to describe hydro-mechanical behaviour. In this paper, a method of consolidation coefficient determination is proposed. After the measurement of compressibility and permeability, the evolution of the consolidation coefficient as a function of void ratio was computed. The method was applied to two different mineral materials: a clay material (kaolin paste) and a fresh cement paste. The results obtained were compared with commonly used methods described in national standards; comparison showed that the developed procedure is quicker and provides more reliable results