Title

Terzaghi's Consolidation Equation - Finite

Difference Solution
By: Murray Fredlund
SoilVision Systems Ltd.
2109 McKinnon Ave. S, Saskatoon, Sask., S7J 1N3
Voice: (306) 477-3324
Fax: (306) 955-4575
Email: info@soilvision.com

Features:
Handles varying boundary conditions
1-Dimensional

Page 1

Title

Page 2

Help

Help
The following help is provided to aid in the successful operation of the spreadsheet.
Only change cell values marked yellow
Changing non-yellow cells could disrupt normal calculation process
Procedure
Press New Problem button
Enter values for yellow cells and proceed through sheets by pressing Next
Press the Generate button where available
Press Initial button on Consolidation sheet to initialize
Press Calculate button to begin calculations
Press the Stop button to stop calculations
View results on the GraphPWP sheet

Page 3

Nodes

Node Generation
The number of nodes to be used in the solution must be input. A greater number of nodes will
yield a more accurate solution but will slow computations. A minimum of 11 nodes and a maximum of 680 nodes are allowed.
Stresses are calculated at the nodes while soil properties are based on the space between the nodes.

25 : Number of Nodes
Valid number of nodes

1
Elements are regions between nodes

2
3

Page 4

Nodes

aximum of 680 nodes are allowed.

Page 5

InitialPWP

Pore-Water Pressures
This defines the initial pore-water pressure distribution.

Node #
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Height (m)
12.00
11.50
11.00
10.50
10.00
9.50
9.00
8.50
8.00
7.50
7.00
6.50
6.00
5.50
5.00
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00

Initial
PWP's
(kPa)
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00

25 : Expected # of nodes
25 : Actual # of nodes
OK
0.5 : Height increment (m)
9.81 : Unit Weight of Water (kN/m^3)

Page 6

Boundaries

Boundary Conditions
The boundary conditions for the top and bottom of the soil layer must be specified.

Top Boundary

0.00 : Pressure Head (m)

Bottom Boundary

0.00 : Pressure Head (m)

25 : Expected # of nodes
25 : Actual # of nodes
OK

Page 7

Boundaries

Page 8

Boundaries

Pressure head = constant

flux = zero
1
Pressure head = constant
flux = zero
1

Page 9

Boundaries

Pressure head = constant

Pressure head = constant

Page 10

157728333.xls.ms_office

Finite Difference Solution to Terzaghi's

Consolidation Equation
On/Off
Height Increment
Number of nodes
Max Time Inc.
Calc Time Inc.
Act. Time Inc.

0.5
25
100,000,000
18,111
18,111

Unit Wt. of Water

Initial Void Ratio
Coeff. of Compressibility, av
Coeff. of Permeability, k
Coeff. of Consolidation, cv
Coeff. of Consolidation, cv
Coeff. of Consolidation, cv

9.81
0.30
1.00E-04
5.00E-09
6.63E-06

Beta
Max Time
Current Time
Counter
Max Iterations
Iteration
Update Values (1/0)

m
s
s
s

1,157.4 days
0.2 days
0.2 days

3.17 yrs
0.00 yrs
0.00 yrs

Equation solved:

u
2u
= cv 2
t
x

kN/m^3
0.23 porosity, n

1/kPa
m/s
m^2/s
m^2/s
6.63E-06 m^2/s

Calculated - if the manually input cv cell is blank, this one will be used
Manually input - to use calculated, clear contents of this cell
This is the Coefficient of Consolidation that will be used for calculations

0.48 < 0.5

157,784,630 s
6,429,323 s
710
1
0
0

Safe
1,826.2 days
74.4 days

5.00 yrs
0.20 yrs

Note: Hit 'Esc' twice after s

Height
(m)
12.000
11.500
11.000

Initial
Pore-water Pressures

Pressure (kPa)
t
0.00
100.00
0.00
100.00
0.93
100.00
1.84

Water Flow Past

Pressure (kPa)
Node Cutoffs
t+dt
(+=up) m^3
0.00
0.92
1.83

Page 11

0.003
0.002
0.001

0.192 : total flow (m^3)

2.769 : water available for flow (m^3)

157728333.xls.ms_office

10.500
10.000
9.500
9.000
8.500
8.000
7.500
7.000
6.500
6.000
5.500
5.000
4.500
4.000
3.500
3.000
2.500
2.000
1.500
1.000
0.500
0.000

100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00

2.73
3.56
4.34
5.04
5.65
6.17
6.58
6.88
7.06
7.12
7.06
6.88
6.58
6.16
5.65
5.03
4.33
3.56
2.72
1.84
0.93
0.00
0.00

2.70
3.53
4.30
4.99
5.60
6.12
6.52
6.82
7.00
7.06
7.00
6.82
6.52
6.11
5.60
4.99
4.30
3.53
2.70
1.83
0.92
0.00

Page 12

0.000
0.000
-0.001
-0.002
-0.003
-0.004
-0.005
-0.005
-0.006
-0.007
-0.008
-0.009
-0.010
-0.010
-0.011
-0.012
-0.013
-0.014
-0.015
-0.016
-0.016
-0.017

157728333.xls.ms_office

zaghi's
Equation solved:

u
2u
= cv 2
t
x

Note: Hit 'Esc' twice after starting Excel iterating (Ignore error and press enter)

for flow (m^3)

Page 13

GraphPWP

Pore-Water Pressure Distributions

14.000

12.000

Height (m)

10.000

8.000
Current
Initial

6.000

4.000

2.000

0.000
0.00

20.00

40.00

60.00
PWP (kPa)

Page 14

80.00

100.00

120.00