What is immediate settling also known as?

Immediate settling is also known as elastic settling. This term refers to the initial amount of settlement that occurs in soil immediately after applying a load, which causes the soil grains to rearrange and densify due to the elastic behavior of the soil. This phenomenon is typically reversible, meaning that when the load is removed, the soil may return to its original position, although this can depend on the type of soil and the duration of the load.

In geotechnical engineering, understanding the types of settlement is crucial for predicting how structures will behave over time. The other terms listed represent different types of settlement phenomena: primary consolidation refers to the time-dependent water expulsion from saturated soils when under load, secondary consolidation involves gradual modifications in soil structure after primary consolidation, and plastic deformation relates to permanent changes in volume and shape of soil that occur beyond its elastic limit. Each of these concepts plays a vital role in assessing soil behavior under load, but immediate settling is specifically tied to the elastic response of soil to an instantaneous load application.