Settlement of soft clay improved by vertical drains

• Main Author: Tang, Boon Cheng.
• Other Authors: Budi Wibawa
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Civil engineering::Geotechnical
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39771
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Experiments were carried out using Rowe Cell for three types of test – first sample is for control which is purely the slurry stage of kaolin, 2nd sample includes vertical drain of diameter size 110mm and 3rd sample includes the vertical drain of diameter size 150mm. For each sample, 5 different pressures will be applied. For a fair test, the same 5 pressures are applied for all samples. The pore water pressure results from these three experiments are used to calculate the experimental average degree of consolidation and compared to the theoretical one. It was found that that the excess pore water pressure, in relation to degree of consolidation, dissipate at a faster rate with the installation of the vertical drains, hence consolidation is attained within a shorter period of time. In addition, the coefficient of consolidation is found to be in the range of 0.154mm2/s to 11.544mm2/s.