Finite Element Modelling of Laboratory One-Dimensional Consolidation of Soft Clays

Abstract

Consolidation of soft clays is always a challenge in foundation engineering. Different material models have been developed to capture the compression and recompression properties of clays. However, the deformation behaviour of clay is captured relatively well by modified cam clay. Validation of the material models and software tools which uses numerical analysis is very crucial before one use them to analyse field problems. A successful validation can open the possibilities for wide range application of the model. This study attempts to validate numerical model of a one-dimensional consolidation of soft clay using the results of consolidation test already conducted in laboratory. The time settlement data for different compression loads is obtained by simulating the laboratory experimental setup in ABAQUS finite element software. The boundary conditions are defined to simulate the drainage conditions in the experimental setup. The results from both experimental and numerical analysis are compared. The time settlement behaviour from numerical analysis for different loads were found comparable with experimental results. The dissipation of pore pressure and development of effective stress is also presented. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.