Modeling of Drain Consolidation in the Quick Triaxial Test and Its Analytical Solution

Abstract

Sand columns have been widely used to accelerate drainage and then improving the mechanical properties of soft soil foundations. The sand column has also been introduced into the triaxial test by researchers, in the center of the cylindrical specimen, to greatly accelerate drainage and consolidation process. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the consolidation properties of the triaxial cylindrical specimen considering the presence of a sand column, and then to propose a consolidation model that simulates the consolidation process of the triaxial test. The consolidation equations were derived considering the drainage of the specimen with a sand column composed of both vertical and double‐radial flows. Then the analytical solution of the model was obtained based on specific initial and boundary conditions. The comparison between the consolidation model and the laboratory tests yielded highly consistent. The case study demonstrated that the proposed consolidation model accurately simulates the evolution of average pore pressure and degree of consolidation in triaxial specimens containing a sand column. The studies on the consolidation parameters showed that there were different effects on the drainage rate for the diameter of specimen, the permeability coefficients of specimen and sand column, as well as the radius of the sand column.