COLLAPSE POTENTIAL AND SETTLEMENT: Foundations on Collapsible Soils.

Collapse PotentialA procedure for determining the collapse potential of a soil was suggested by Jennings and Knight (1975). The procedure is as follows:

A sample of an undisturbed soil is cut and fit into a consolidometer ring and loads are applied progressively until about 200 kPa (4 kip/ft^2) is reached. At this pressure the specimen is flooded with water for saturation and left for 24 hours. The consolidation test is carried on to its maximum loading. The resulting e-log p curve plotted from the data obtained is shown in Fig. 18.4.

The collapse potential Cp is then expressed as

Figure 18.4 Typical collapse potential test result

Table 18.1 Collapse potential values

Jennings and Knight have suggested some values for collapse potential as shown in Table 18.1. These values are only qualitative to indicate the severity of the problem.