Abstract
This article presents an experimental investigation on the dynamic consolidation (DC) drainage behavior of soft marine clays. A sinusoidal harmonic load with different frequencies was applied to simulate the DC method in which the conventional impact load was replaced by the cyclic load. Four geotextile-filter strips were used to form the side drainage channels simulating the wick drain method. A series of loading tests were conducted on soft soil specimens at different confining pressures (i.e., 20, 40, 70, and 100 kPa) and different vibration frequencies (i.e., 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 5 Hz). Test results showed that both confining pressure and frequency have significant influences on the drainage behavior of soft marine clay specimens. The magnitude of drainage volume consistently decreases linearly with increasing confining pressure. Compared to static loading condition, specimens under cyclic loading condition at different frequencies show a better drainage performance. Specimen at applied frequency of 1 Hz exhibits the maximum cumulative drainage volume due to the resonant effect.
Acknowledgments
The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsors. The authors would like to express appreciations to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.