Abstract
This paper presents a framework for modelling the random variation in permeability in cement-admixed soil based on the binder content variation and thereby relating the coefficient of permeability to the unconfined compressive strength of a cement-admixed clay. The strength–permeability relationship was subsequently implemented in random finite element method (RFEM). The effects of spatial variation in both strength and permeability of cement-admixed clays in RFEM is illustrated using two examples concerning one-dimensional consolidation. Parametric studies considering different coefficient of variation and scale of fluctuation configurations were performed. Results show that spatial variability of the cement-admixed clay considering variable permeability can significantly influence the overall consolidation rate, especially when the soil strength variability is high. However, the overall consolidation rates also depend largely on the prescribed scales of fluctuation; in cases where the variation is horizontally layered, stagnation in pore pressure dissipation may occur due to soft parts yielding.
Highlights
Cement admixture is commonly used for rapid improvement of soft clayey soils (e.g.[15, 18, 23, 36, 38, 49, 53, 56, 64])
This paper presents a framework for modelling the random variation in permeability in cement-admixed soil based on the binder content variation and thereby relating the coefficient of permeability to the unconfined compressive strength of a cement-admixed clay
The correlations of coefficient of permeability with strength of the cement-admixed clay are based on the notion that both are related to the binder content in the mix
Summary
Cement admixture is commonly used for rapid improvement of soft clayey soils (e.g.[15, 18, 23, 36, 38, 49, 53, 56, 64]). Liu et al [27] studied the lateral compression of a spatially variable cement-admixed clay layer using threedimensional (3D) RFEM, by considering the treated soil as a Tresca material. The total stress Tresca material cannot model the volumetric yielding and tensile failure of cement-admixed clays [59]. The C3 material can capture the behaviour of cement-admixed clays over a large range of cement content, including tensile failure. The time-dependent behaviour of the cement-admixed clay was investigated by Pan et al [38]. These studies did not consider the spatial variation in permeability arising from the variation in cement and water contents in the treated soil, and its effect on the rate of pore pressure dissipation
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