Consolidation of Layered Soils with Variable Compressibility

Abstract

The distribution of consolidating load in any soil is related directly to the distribution of pore water pressure. Terzaghi’s consolidation theory that is used to define this distribution is based on some certain linearized assumptions that may or may not be reasonable in practice. The linearized equation surely may have some mathematical benefits; however, they are of slight importance when working on non-homogeneous soils. In the following study, a numerical method is developed. A finite difference approach for computing 1D consolidation in analysing consolidation problem is presented. Most software applications utilize an explicit finite difference evaluation method. While using this approach, the solution space in the problem is discretized in time and space. The same problem may also be solved implicitly, so that the excess pore pressures at all nodes are solved together at the selected time. A nonlinear formulation, involving variations of compressibility, indicated in the results is deemed essential for the behaviour that is observed. Critical investigation may be done to investigate the nature of these variations.