The reinforcement analysis of soft ground treated by thermal consolidation vacuum preloading

Abstract

Vacuum preloading technology can effectively reinforce the soft ground in coastal areas of China, which provides support for the safe construction and normal operation of transportation engineering. However, the conventional vacuum preloading technology has the limitations of ground reinforcement due to the clogging of the prefabricated vertical drain (PVD). This paper was based on the fact that elevated temperature could improve soil permeability and shear strength. Thermal consolidation vacuum preloading technology was proposed to analyze the ground reinforcement effect. To understand the reinforcement effect, the model experimental case of thermal consolidation vacuum preloading was designed to compare and analyze the temperature distribution, the development of water discharge, surface settlement, average consolidation degree, pore water pressure, water content and undrained shear strength at 25 °C, 50 °C and 70 °C in the laboratory-scale investigation. The research results presented that thermal consolidation vacuum preloading technology could significantly improve water discharge, surface settlement, average consolidation degree, undrained shear strength and reduce pore water pressure, water content, which illustrated that this technology was capable of significantly improving the effectiveness of soft ground. The research results could provide a reference for the soft ground treated by novel vacuum preloading technology to accumulate data.