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The consolidation of a soil stratum, including self‐weight effects and large strains
Author(s) -
Lee Kuantsai,
Sills G. C.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.1610050406
Subject(s) - consolidation (business) , geotechnical engineering , soil water , geology , soil science , economics , accounting
A layer of fill deposited in a soft wet condition will consolidate under its own weight and will commonly undergo comparatively large strains in the process. Neither of these aspects of behaviour can be modelled by traditional consolidation theories. In this paper, a consolidation model is developed from the theory proposed by Gibson et al. 5 and is applied here to soil consolidation during and after soil deposition. No restriction is made on the magnitude of strain, so that the boundaries are not taken as being fixed in space, but are allowed to move as required by the process of consolidation. However, perhaps the more important aspect is the consideration of self‐weight, since in many instances, the surface loading applied to soft, soils is small, and the majority of the compression of the layer occurs while the effective stresses reach equilibrium with the weight of the soil. Although some idealizations have to be made in assuming relationships between soil parameters, it is shown that the self weight effects in consolidation can be significant, and fundamental to an understanding of soft soil behaviour.