A New Approach to Analyse the Consolidation of Soft Soils Improved by Vertical Drains and Submitted to Progressive Loading

Autor: Abdessamad Ghafiri, Fouzia Kassou, Abdelhak Sabihi, Jamal Benbouziyane
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering. 25:51-59
ISSN: 1976-3808
1226-7988
DOI: 10.1007/s12205-020-0060-z
Popis: Prefabricated vertical drains combined with preloading and staged construction is a frequently used technique to accelerate consolidation in soft soils. Nevertheless, an installed vertical drain discharge capacity rapidly reduces over consolidation. Most reasons are the lateral confining pressure, the drain deformation and filter clogging. This greatly affects the rate of consolidation by increasing well resistance. This article presents an exact solution under equal-strain consolidation case of progressive loading. Total vertical stress increase caused by loading is principally modelled as a linear curve depending on time and depth. The discharge capacity of the drain is supposed to lower linearly with depth and inversely with time. The smear effect is also considered by assuming constant permeabilities of the soil in both smear zone and undisturbed zone. Excess pore-water pressure at any arbitrary point in soil is assessed, and the global average degree of consolidation is found. Comparisons are made with an available solution from the literature. The suggested solution is then applied to three pre-loading embankments of the Moroccan high-speed railway project. A good agreement is found between the solution and measured data from field monitoring.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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