Consolidation of Unsaturated Soils due to Dissipation of Pore-Air Pressure

Abstract

One-dimensional consolidation equation of unsaturated soils was derived in order to solve this special case of consolidation. The presented equation, not similar to Terzaghi’s equation, is a type of absolute nonlinear partial differential equation, and it was solved by finite difference method. An example was analyzed and the case of incompressible fluid consolidation was compared. Finally the experimental results from laboratory tests reported in the literature, was fitted by the presented equation, and the agreement was good. The results show that (1) the process of pore-air pressure dissipation is similar to that of pore-water pressure of saturated soils; (2) the compressibility of pore fluid is not an advantageous factor to quicken the consolidation; (3) the presented equation is effective to analyze the process of consolidation of unsaturated soils which consolidate mainly due to the dissipation of pore-air pressure.