Performance of marine clay stabilised with vacuum pressure: Based on Queensland experience

Stabilising soft marine clay and estuarine soils via vacuum preloading has become very popular in Australasia over the past decades because it is a cost-effective and time-efficient approach. In recent times, new land on areas outside but adjacent to existing port amenities, the Fisherman Islands at the Port of Brisbane(POB), was reclaimed to cater for an increase in trade activities. A vacuum preloading method combined with surcharge to stabilise the deep layers of soil was used to enhance the application of prefabricated vertical drains(PVDs). This paper describes the performance of this combined surcharge fill and vacuum system under the embankment and also compares it with a surcharge loading system to demonstrate the benefits of vacuum pressure over conventional fill. The performance of this embankment is also presented in terms of field monitoring data, and the relative performance of the vacuum together with non-vacuum systems is evaluated. An analytical solution to radial consolidation with time-dependent surcharge loading and vacuum pressure is also presented in order to predict the settlement and associated excess pore water pressure(EPWP) of deposits of thick soft clay.     

Experimental study on a dredged fill ground improved by a two-stage vacuum preloading method

The vacuum preloading method has been wisely chosen among many ground-improvement methods considering the time limit of many projects and the characteristics of reclaimed soil. However, the loss in vacuum with soil depth, the clogging around prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs), and the deteriorative consolidation of the deep soil layer, among other factors, create a large challenge to vacuum preloading for dredged marine clay fill. Thus, this study proposes a two-stage vacuum preloading method and focuses on its feasibility and effectiveness. Contrasting laboratory tests are performed in two identical experimental tanks with dredged marine clay fill from the Wenzhou land reclamation site in China. In one tank, the one-stage vacuum preloading method is used to serve as a baseline for this study. In the other tank, use of the two-stage vacuum preloading method is proposed for consolidation; it comprises two stages. In the first stage, the dredged marine clay fill is conditioned by vacuum preloading using half of the PVDs, where the dissipation of the excess pore water pressure tends to be steady. In the second stage, vacuum preloading is activated using all the PVDs. The results show that a better consolidation effect is achieved with the proposed method in terms of the settlement, vacuum pressure, pore water pressure, water content, vane shear strength, and soil particle microstructure after soil consolidation.     

变荷载作用下未打穿竖井地基固结分析

利用已有瞬时荷载作用下未打穿竖井地基固结模型,根据线性偏微分方程的叠加原理,将变荷载作用问题分解为瞬时荷载作用问题,给出了变荷载作用下未打穿竖井地基固结解答。利用该求解方法,对一未打穿竖井地基在单级线性加载和多级加载情况下的孔压消散进行了分析。分析表明,受加载历时影响,竖井打设区平均固结度减小幅度大于下卧层,但下卧层受影响时间要长得多。另外,在粗略设计中,可以将多级加载简化为单级线性加载,这样对后期平均固结度的影响不大。     

Consolidation of a composite foundation with soil–cement columns and prefabricated vertical drains

A new ground improvement method is proposed for embankment foundation on soft soils, involving the use of both soil–cement columns and prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) to improve the shear strength and accelerate the pre-consolidation process. An analytical solution was derived for calculating the consolidation process of this composite foundation under time-dependent loading by considering the PVDs as cylindrical drain wells. The equivalent coefficient of permeability was acquired by matching the average degree of consolidation of a unit cell model. The analytical expression of consolidation was established according to the axi-symmetric analytical model, and its theoretical solution under time-dependent loading was achieved through the variable separation method. The analytical solution under ramp loading was verified by comparing the calculated results with the three-dimensional finite-element analysis. The influence of replacement ratio of the soil–cement column, column-soil modulus ratio, improvement depth and column-soil permeability ratio were explored. Field experiments on the Huai-Yan Highway indicated the calculated settlements agreed well with the field measurements.     

堆载预压径竖向固结等体积应变解答

现有的含竖向排水体地基固结问题的解析解答大都是在传统的等竖向应变假设基础上建立的,而且在考虑涂抹区土体的渗流和压缩作用方面,还没有真实地体现出涂抹区土体的竖向渗透系数和体积压缩系数,其对地基固结的影响也尚不明确。为此,针对含竖向排水体地基径竖向同时固结的轴对称问题,采用等体积应变假设,考虑井阻作用、涂抹作用、随时间线性堆载预压以及地基附加球应力任意分布,推导了完整的径竖向固结微分方程的解答,给出了超静孔隙水压力和固结度的显式表达式,分析了侧向变形即泊松比效应以及涂抹区土体的竖向渗透系数和三维体积压缩系数对地基整体平均固结度的影响。结果表明,泊松比效应较为明显,基于传统的等竖向应变假设的解答高估了地基的固结速率;不考虑涂抹区土体体积压缩的解答虽然也高估了地基的固结速率,但影响有限;而涂抹区土体的竖向渗透系数对于地基固结的影响则几乎可忽略不计。     

真空-堆载联合预压加固软基简化计算方法

在深入了解真空预压机理和砂井地基固结理论的基础上 ,根据固结度等效的原则 ,推导了与单井固结理论等效的成层均质地基等效渗透系数 ,从而将复杂砂井地基转化为无砂井成层地基 ,以达到简化计算的目的 ,并结合真空-堆载联合预压的加固特点 ,提出一种简化的真空-堆载联合预压法的有限元计算方法 ,并结合工程实例对简化方法的可靠性进行了研究 ,通过与实测资料和常规砂井地基有限元计算值对比 ,表明该简化方法具有较高的准确性 ,可方便地应用于工程设计和实践。     

太仓煤堆场软黏土地基堆载预压处理效果分析

采用塑料排水板堆载预压法对太仓煤堆场吹填土地基进行了加固处理,根据现场监测数据,分析了软土地基在堆载预压条件下的沉降和超静孔隙水压力的变化规律。研究结果表明:实测沉降—时间曲线与采用Logistic模型拟合得到的沉降—时间曲线较为吻合;塑料排水板插板深度范围内的各层地基土均发生了排水固结,而且地面以下占排水板总长度四分之三深度范围内的加固效果最佳。通过反演实测沉降曲线,得到了场地地基土径向固结系数平均值;最后对地基固结性状进行了分析,分析表明,本场地采用塑料排水板堆载预压法加固地基是有效的,研究成果可为后续工程地基处理设计提供可靠的设计依据。     

Nonlinear consolidation analysis of soft soil with vertical drains considering well resistance and smear effect under cyclic loadings

In this paper, the nonlinear consolidation behavior of soft soil with vertical drains considering well resistance and smear effect under cyclic loadings was investigated. Using the variables separation method, a series of analytical solutions were derived to calculate the excess pore water pressure and the average degree of consolidation of the soil subjected to various cyclic loadings including trapezoidal cyclic loading, rectangular cyclic loading, triangular cyclic loading and haversine cyclic loading. The correctness of the proposed solutions was verified through degenerating into the existing solutions. Finally, the effects of different parameters on the nonlinear consolidation behavior of soil with vertical drains under cyclic loadings were analyzed.     

成层未打穿砂井地基固结Lagrange插值解法

考虑井阻和涂抹区的影响,建立成层未打穿砂井地基固结的数值模型和算法。将未打穿砂井底面下的软土层视为虚拟排水井,同时将未打穿砂井转化为打穿的多段砂井,使得土层边界条件和数值计算过程简单化。对超孔隙水压力用Lagrange插值多项式等结点插值近似,把砂井打设区固结方程转化为结点的超孔隙水压力的简单微分方程组,砂井固结方程转化为一线性代数方程组,以4层土为例,导出详细的计算公式。如增加土层数,仅需改变边界结点系数公式。最后,把该解法与相关近似方法的计算结果进行分析比较,并给出一个多层软土路基预压加固工程案例。结果表明,将下卧层简化为一维固结与考虑其三维固结对计算结果影响很小。     

Pilot tests on vacuum preloading method combined with short and long PVDs

Dredged marine clay has been widely used as a filling material for land reclamation in China. The difficulty of using the vacuum preloading method to improve the dredged marine clay together with the bottom sediment clay is the different spacing requirement of the PVDs. To solve this problem, the Vacuum Preloading method combined with the Short and Long PVDs (VPSL) is proposed in this paper. The short PVDs are installed only into the dredged marine clay layer in-between the long PVDs which are installed through the whole clay layer. Pilot tests are also conducted at a land reclamation site in Tianjin, China, to investigate the performance of the proposed method. The ground settlement, the applied vacuum pressure and the pore water pressure in the soil are monitored during the pilot tests. The average degrees of consolidation are calculated based on the monitored settlement and pore pressure data. It is found that the proposed VPSL method is more effective for improving top dredged clay together with the bottom sediment clay than the conventional vacuum preloading method. The vane shear strength profiles of soil layers after ground improvement also show that the VPSL method is more effective to achieve a uniform soil strength profile.     

Analytical solutions to the axisymmetric consolidation of a multi-layer soil system under surcharge combined with vacuum preloading

Surcharge combined with vacuum preloading is a common technique for accelerating the consolidation process in ground improvement. A unit cell model for the axisymmetric consolidation of a soft soil using a prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) under a surcharge, combined with vacuum preloading, is investigated in this study. Based on this model, analytical solutions for a multi-layer soil system are put forward and the explicit expressions for two-layer and one-layer systems are presented. The accuracy of the proposed solution is verified using an analytical solution available in the literature. In the parametric study, the influencing factors on the consolidation process, such as, the smear zone, the PVD spacing, the hydraulic conductivity in the radial direction, the coefficient of vacuum decrease, are taken into account. The water flow in the radial direction plays an important role in the consolidation process while the impact of the vertical flow mainly develops around the interfaces between two adjacent layers. In addition, the proposed analytical solution is applied in a case history with three different layers and the results are reasonable.     

真空预压法中塑料排水板弯曲对固结的影响

 工程实践表明,真空预压法处理超软弱地基时因过大的地基压缩量而使塑料排水板弯曲,导致其纵向通水量减少,进而影响深层土体的加固效果。为降低这种影响,提出二次插板方案,即先对浅层土体进行处理,待其达到一定强度后,再插设较长的塑料排水板对软基进行整体加固。结合浙江省温州丁山垦区围垦造陆的真空预压工程,对不同弯曲率的塑料排水板进行纵向通水量的测试以确定其纵向渗透系数在加固过程中的变化,并基于ADINA有限元软件,开发邓肯–张本构模型,在三维有限元数值模拟中考虑排水板纵向渗透系数的变化和超软弱土中未消散的初始超孔压。分析比较数值计算结果与监测数据,结果表明,二次插板方案所产生的沉降与孔压消散值均比一次插板方案的要大,计算时考虑排水板弯曲对固结的影响比未考虑这种影响的计算值更接近实际值,所得结论可为类似工程的设计和施工提供理论支持。     

真空—堆载联合预压法加固软基过程中气、水、土变化规律的试验研究

真空—堆载联合预压法是一种较好的软基处理方法。但是与工程实践相比较,理论研究相对滞后,为弄清机理,提高设计和施工水平,有必要作进一步深入的研究。对九江大桥至江门市公路软基进行现场试验研究,分析结果表明:一般在地基相同的深度处:塑排真空度淤泥真空度。加固区内地基中的孔隙水压力的最大消散值可分为两个组成部分:一为真空度的直接传递导致的孔压下降值;二为抽真空引起水位线下降进而引起的孔压消散值。淤泥地基中孔隙水压力消散主要是由于地下水位线的下降引起的;而塑排中的孔压消散大部分由真空度直接引起。在路基填筑期间,淤泥地基与竖向排水体之间的孔压差增大,加速土体固结。地表的水平位移影响范围可达24m,约为1倍排水板深度的距离。通过十字板剪切试验与静力触探试验,加固后土体的抗剪强度一般可提高1.5~6倍,说明真空联合堆载预压加固软土地基的效果显著。     

真空堆载联合预压加固软基机理的试验研究

通过对浃里陈大桥桥头试验段的真空度、地下水位、流量、孔隙水压力、地表沉降等现场监测结果的分析 ;阐述了真空堆载联合预压的联合机理 ,真空预压与堆载预压的联合方式不是真空荷载与堆载荷载的叠加 ,而是真空预压引起的孔压差与堆载压力引起的孔压差的叠加。试验结果表明 ,用真空堆载联合预压法处理软基是极为有效的。     

真空联合堆载预压下竖井地基固结解析解

考虑真空度沿竖井的发展是一个深度的函数,同时堆载所引起的附加应力既随时间变化也随深度变化,还考虑了地基的径竖向渗流以及扰动区土体水平渗透系数的3种变化模式,推导了真空联合堆载预压下竖井地基固结度的一个较普遍的解析解,并分析了在真空度沿竖井线性下降,堆载线性施加和附加应力沿深度梯形分布等情况下的地基固结性状。结果表明,荷载线性施加时,真空度对地基固结度有较大影响,真空度越大,沿深度衰减越慢,固结越快;而在荷载瞬时施加时,真空度对固结度没有影响。在地基井径比和水平渗透系数与竖向渗透系数之比较小时,地基的竖向渗流对地基的固结度有较大的影响。     

真空预压法的机理分析

从讨论固结概念出发,得出真空预压法的实质。它是以降低边界上(砂垫层和砂井视为加固体的边界的一部分)u值为途径,从而形成边界与土体间u(势)分布不平衡而引起固结的。当边界具有排水条件时,在总应力基本不变的条件下,u值的降低必然导致有效应力σ＇的增加。仅当σ＇增加时,才能使土体固结。从u(势)分布的不平衡直到新的平衡之全过程即为真空预压加固过程。这是一种相对提高与发挥自重有效应力的加固方法。通过试验与理论分析说明,它与堆载预压法相比在固结产生的途径、固结过程中的特征、应力路径及砂井作用等方面有差异;而相同点则是两者的固结都来源于u(势)分布的不平衡且都满足于固结微分方程。同时,论证了渗流和固结并非因果关系以及它与降水预压的相似处及其差异;然后,提出了适用于施加外荷与直接降低边界u值两情况下的固结模型;最后,对几种固结情况进行了有效应力分析。     

真空堆载预压联合电渗竖向排水地基非线性固结解析解

基于等应变假设,采用非线性渗透及压缩模型,考虑真空度沿深度线性衰减以及随指数时间增加、附加应力随深度线性减小、有效电压随时间指数衰减特征,推导瞬时加载、单级加载和多级加载方式下的真空堆载预压联合电渗竖向排水地基非线性固结解析解。通过与现有文献中的试验和数值结果对比,验证推导的解析理论的正确性。在此基础上,利用该解对真空度、附加应力及有效电压的变化开展参数分析。结果表明:真空度沿深度衰减将减小最大负孔压及沉降,但对固结速率影响较小;初期固结速率随着真空度增长速率的加快呈非线性增长;多级加载可有效减小堆载引起的超静孔压,确保地基稳定;考虑附加应力沿深度减小,计算得到的超静孔压及最终沉降将显著减小;有效电压残余值越大、衰减速率越慢,对应的最大平均负孔压和沉降越大;固结速率随着有效电压衰减速率加快呈非线性减小趋势。     

井阻随深度和时间变化的竖井地基固结解析解

基于Deng等关于井阻随深度线性增大和随时间指数增大的假设,推导了这一假设条件下满足等应变径向固结基本方程及一切求解条件的竖井地基固结解析解。通过与现有常井阻固结解析解对比,验证了本文解的正确性。利用本文解析解,计算对比了不同井阻变化率(即参数A2和A3值)的平均孔压和平均固结度,分析了不同时间因子、深度条件下,井阻随深度和时间的变化对竖井地基固结特性的影响。结果表明:井阻随深度和时间增大将使竖井地基固结速率减小,甚至使竖井加速地基固结的能力逐渐消失。     

关于砂井地基超载预压的若干问题

本文结合宁波机场、温州机场砂井超载预压等工程,论述了预压荷载下砂井地基固结有限元分析方法,通过室内外试验探讨了正常固结土的次固结变形特性,说明超载预压对减小土的次固结变形和推迟次固结变形的发生有肯定的效果。本文还提出了一种分析超载卸除后地基残余变形的方法,并建议用有效应力面积比来进行超载设计和卸载控制。