ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the review of the basic theories of effective stress and consolidation of cohesive soils that were covered in the class of soil mechanics. It provides introduction to critical state soil mechanics and review of the stress—strain and volumetric/pore pressure behavior of clay and sand under the framework of critical state soil mechanics. The chapter describes the concept of state parameter and relationships between critical state model and soil engineering properties that include compressibility and shear strength. It discusses the theory of plasticity and soil stress–strain constitutive models that involve the concept of critical state soil mechanics. Many different types of soils exist but depending on particle sizes and their distribution, soil may be classified into two broad categories: fine-grained and coarse-grained soils. The time-dependent process during which a soil layer responds to external compression is commonly termed the process of consolidation.
