Consideration of radial flow in nonlinear finite-strain self-weight consolidation of dredged soil

Abstract

The application of vertical drains along with preloading to accelerate the consolidation rate of dredged soil has been widely used. However, the conventional analytical or numerical models cannot predict the nonlinear finite-strain consolidation behavior of dredge-soil deposits accurately because the vertical drains are installed in the middle of a self-weight-consolidation process. This paper establishes a mathematical and numerical model for a 2-D axisymmetric nonlinear finite-strain consolidation, for which the self-weight consolidation and the radial drainage through vertical drains are considered. Besides, a series of lab-scale self-weight-consolidation tests were conducted, which can simulate the vertical-drain installation. Experimental results along with those of the simplified method (Lee et al., 2016) were then utilized to verify performance of the proposed model. The results demonstrate that the proposed model appropriately predicts the nonlinear finite-strain self-weight consolidation behavior of dredged soils, and its application with vertical drains is suitable for designing dredged-soil improvement. Moreover, the most important advantage of the proposed model is to optimize the schedule of dredging/landfilling construction.