Experimental study of PVD-improved dredged soil with vacuum preloading and air pressure

The PVD-vacuum method is the main method used to treat dredged soil, but sometimes it cannot completely meet engineering needs due to the limitations of vacuum pressure. Therefore, based on the traditional PVD-vacuum method, a method of air pressure combined with vacuum preloading is proposed in this paper. The air pressure is transmitted into the dredged soil by using an impermeable and flexible membrane airbag embedded in the dredged soil. A comparison of the traditional PVD-vacuum method and the combination of air pressure and vacuum preloading is investigated by the model test. The data of the settlement and water discharge during the test are monitored. After the tests, the water content and shear strength at different positions are measured. Finally, a method for calculating the volume change of dredged soil is proposed, and the results of the test are used to prove the correctness of the proposed method.     

Experimental study on the clogging effect of dredged fill surrounding the PVD under vacuum preloading

Clogging effect surrounding prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) is a typical problem when vacuum preloading is applied to a dredged fill foundation. A large-scale model test was designed to clarify the cause and mechanism of the clogging effect, and the basic physical and mechanical parameters of the soil in the clogging zone were tracked during the test. The results demonstrated that a clogging zone was formed around the PVD in the early stage of improvement with conventional vacuum preloading, and the boundary of the clogging zone was approximately 0.2–0.4 of the boundary radius. The clogging zone surrounding the PVD was formed because of the overall movement of the soil toward the PVD under the high vacuum pressure gradient, rather than fine particle migration. The soil in the clogging zone exhibited permeability anisotropy and equivalent ‘smear’ effect. The permeability ratio (k_h/k_v) was less than 1, and the ratio of horizontal permeability coefficients at the test distances of 45 cm and 10 cm were 9.6 at a depth of 20 cm and 8.9 at a depth of 80 cm. An analysis of the microstructure of the soil in the clogging zone demonstrated that the clay particles tended to be vertically oriented. The re-orientation of the clay particles reduced the horizontal permeability coefficient and led to the permeability anisotropy of the soil in the clogging zone. Thus, decrease in the horizontal permeability coefficient and equivalent ‘smear’ effect of the soil in the clogging zone affect the consolidation of dredged fill, which leads to the clogging effect. The permeability anisotropy also slightly affects consolidation.     

Effects of temperature circulation on dredged sludge improved by vacuum preloading

Vacuum preloading is an effective and common method used for clay soil improvement. However, the smear zone generated by the installation of prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) hinders additional efficiency improvements. PVD combined with heat is applied to overcome this problem. This study presents a series of model tests conducted on clayey soil improved by vacuum preloading with different rectangular-wave temperature circulation modes to investigate the effects of cyclic temperature on vacuum consolidation. During the test, the settlement, pore-water pressure, and drainage were monitored. The degree of consolidation was analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of this method, and the coefficient of energy consumption was used to quantify the energy consumption at different cyclic temperature modes. The results indicated that the rectangular-wave temperature circulation mode of 30–75–30 °C was the most effective. The results of this study contribute substantially to the state of knowledge regarding the cyclic temperature effects on dredged slurry performance subjected to vacuum preloading. Concurrently, a novel approach is introduced for the determination of the optimal soil consolidation.     

Consolidation considering increasing soil column radius for dredged slurries improved by vacuum preloading method

Soil column is often investigated in the improvement of dredged slurries. Different from the smear zone, the soil column forms gradually and has extremely low permeability. This study presents an analytical solution for soil consolidation considering the increasing radius of the soil column and time-dependent discharge capacity. Based on the solution, the influence of the radius' increase on the consolidation behavior is found significant when the soil column has low permeability and large final radius, and the increase of formation time can lead to the increase of consolidation speed and final consolidation degree.     

Analytical solution on vacuum consolidation of dredged slurry considering clogging effects

This paper aims to establish an analytical model on vacuum consolidation of dredged slurry treated by PVD with special considerations on the clogging effects. A series of laboratory tests have been conducted to characterize the temporal/spatial variations of the clogging zone and the vacuum pressure in soil. Based on the nonlinear relationship between the compressibility, the permeability and the void ratio (e-p and e-k curves), an analytical model incorporating the clogging zone was proposed and solved considering the nonlinear attenuation of the vacuum pressure. The solution was verified and validated by comparing with published data and field test results, respectively. Parametric studies reveal that the clogging significantly slows down the consolidation rate, and thus reduces the final degree of consolidation of the dredged slurry.     

真空–电渗联合加固技术的固结试验研究

针对真空预压与电渗联合加固时存在水流方向相互干扰的问题,在室内试验中开展真空预压与电渗不同联合方式对淤泥脱水效果的研究。试验结果表明:真空预压与电渗异步加固时能够获得比其他联合方式更好的加固效果,而真空预压与电渗交替加固的时间对加固效果也有显著的影响。若交替时间太短,真空预压与电渗将不能充分发挥排水作用,若交替时间太长,真空预压与电渗所提供的能量将不能被充分利用。在现场实际应用中,应根据实测排水量或排水速率的变化不断调整真空预压与电渗交替加固时间。     

A pilot test on a membraneless vacuum preloading method

A membraneless vacuum preloading method is proposed in this paper for soft soil improvement. The method offers several advantages over the conventional vacuum preloading in which membrane is used to create the airtight condition and sand blanket layer to distribute vacuum. To assess the effectiveness of the proposed method, a pilot test was conducted at a land reclamation site in Tianjin, China. The ground settlement and the pore water pressure (PWP) at different elevations in soil were measured. After vacuum preloading, the average water content of the soft soils reduced by approximately 12% and the undrained shear strength increased twofold. The average degree of consolidation at the end of the vacuum preloading achieved 85.1% based on the settlement data and 84.5% based on the PWP data. The pilot test data have shown that the proposed method exhibits similar efficiencies to the conventional vacuum preloading method.     

Effects of pressurizing timing on air booster vacuum consolidation of dredged slurry

Air booster vacuum preloading is a newly improved method applied in land reclamation projects. Highly pressurized air can provide an additional pressure difference between the prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) and injection point, thereby increasing the hydraulic gradient and generating small fractures that can improve the soil permeability and the transmission efficiency of the vacuum pressure. However, with a premature activation time, the pressurized air can create air channels connected to the PVD, which may drastically decrease the vacuum pressure. With a delayed activation time, the strength of the dredged clay may be too high to permit fractures, thus limiting the permeability improvement. In this study, soils with degrees of consolidation (DOCs) of 0%, 40%, 60%, and 80% were selected for testing the efficacy of initial booster activation times in four tests. The results show that the pressurizing groups were more effective in improving the consolidation of soils, and the best effect of the use of air booster is obtained when soil has been consolidated to a DOC of 60%. The lower soils of the pressurized groups showed greater increase rates than those demonstrated by conventional vacuum preloading.     

Pilot tests on vacuum preloading method combined with short and long PVDs

Dredged marine clay has been widely used as a filling material for land reclamation in China. The difficulty of using the vacuum preloading method to improve the dredged marine clay together with the bottom sediment clay is the different spacing requirement of the PVDs. To solve this problem, the Vacuum Preloading method combined with the Short and Long PVDs (VPSL) is proposed in this paper. The short PVDs are installed only into the dredged marine clay layer in-between the long PVDs which are installed through the whole clay layer. Pilot tests are also conducted at a land reclamation site in Tianjin, China, to investigate the performance of the proposed method. The ground settlement, the applied vacuum pressure and the pore water pressure in the soil are monitored during the pilot tests. The average degrees of consolidation are calculated based on the monitored settlement and pore pressure data. It is found that the proposed VPSL method is more effective for improving top dredged clay together with the bottom sediment clay than the conventional vacuum preloading method. The vane shear strength profiles of soil layers after ground improvement also show that the VPSL method is more effective to achieve a uniform soil strength profile.     

真空预压与堆载预压加固软基的微观效果评价

本文以某高速公路路基软土为研究对象,在地质条件相近的、不同试验路段的软基加固方法（堆载预压、真空预压、真空．堆载联合预压）前后（加固时间达到3个月）,工程单位分别进行了原位试验并采取软土样,开展了室内物理力学试验。结合工程单位所取的软土样进行了软土的微观结构试验,在试验的基础上,获得了软土在天然状态以及3种不同工况下的微结构图像,通过对图像处理得到加固前后的微结构特征参数。研究得出：在工程地质条件相近以及加固时间相同的情况下,无论是从宏观、微观结构,还是从固结过程和强度的增长上来看,3种工况的加固效果依次为：堆载预压→真空预压→真空．堆载联合预压。     

真空预压法在某软基处理中的应用

结合沿海地区某软土地基处理工程,综合对比了预压固结法中不同的加压系统和排水系统的优缺点,并重点介绍了真空排水预压法的材料选择及施工工艺,为同类软基处理工程提供指导。     

Effect of vacuum removal on consolidation settlement under a combined vacuum and surcharge preloading

The combined vacuum and surcharge preloading technique is extensively used to accelerate the consolidation process of subsoils. The effect of vacuum pressure is often considered as a loading/unloading cycle of mean effective stress, such that elastic rebound occurs after vacuum removal, which cannot explain the observed postconstruction settlement in the field. In this study, the stress state of subsoils subject to vacuum and surcharge preloading is analyzed and decomposed into two components: (a) geostatic consolidation at a different depth, and (b) loading/unloading in the minor principal stress direction. A series of consolidated drained triaxial tests is conducted to simulate the soil behaviour after vacuum removal. Results show that the contribution of unloading in the minor principal stress direction outweighs the magnitude of elastic rebound after vacuum removal, and hence continued settlement dominates. A field case for highways is provided to further demonstrate the proposed mechanism.     

Recycling dredged mud slurry using vacuum-solidification combined method with sustainable alkali-activated binder

Dredged sediments with high water content is difficult to be treated and beneficially reused because of their poor engineering characteristics. To treat those slurry, this paper introduces a novel mechanical-chemical combined method, i.e., vacuum-solidification (VS) combined method, and investigates its performance in dewatering and strength improvement. Corresponding model tests using vacuum-only preloading method and binder-only solidification method, respectively, were conducted. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag, an industrial by-product, activated by hydrated lime, magnesium oxide or carbide slag was used as the binder in the proposed method. The mass of discharged water due to vacuum consolidation was measured during the model test. Soil samples were taken after vacuum preloading for unconfined compression test, permeability test, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry to analyze the strength development, hydraulic and microstructural properties of the treated soil. The results indicate that the VS combined method exhibits a remarkable enhancement in both volume reduction efficiency and the strength improvement effectiveness. The type and content of activators have an obvious influence on the performance of the combined method. This study preliminarily revealed the mechanism and effect of using the VS combined method with alkali-activated GGBS as binder to treat high water content dredged mud.     

真空-堆载联合预压加固软基简化计算方法

在深入了解真空预压机理和砂井地基固结理论的基础上 ,根据固结度等效的原则 ,推导了与单井固结理论等效的成层均质地基等效渗透系数 ,从而将复杂砂井地基转化为无砂井成层地基 ,以达到简化计算的目的 ,并结合真空-堆载联合预压的加固特点 ,提出一种简化的真空-堆载联合预压法的有限元计算方法 ,并结合工程实例对简化方法的可靠性进行了研究 ,通过与实测资料和常规砂井地基有限元计算值对比 ,表明该简化方法具有较高的准确性 ,可方便地应用于工程设计和实践。     

Experimental investigation on electro-osmotic treatment combined with vacuum preloading for marine clay

An electro-osmotic consolidation (EO) combined with vacuum preloading (VP) was investigated on marine clay using laboratory tests. To improve consolidation efficiency and reduce the settlement difference, a new prefabricated device was designed to combine EO and VP for the tests. The results indicated that the vacuum preloading with intermittent electro-osmotic consolidation (VP–I-ECM) provided more water discharge with higher discharge rate and produced larger soil settlement compared to traditional vacuum preloading and electro-osmotic consolidation. For the combined method, the VP effectively removed water from the soil for the first 12 h, and its efficiency decreased with the time. After 12 h, the intermittent EO was used to further consolidate the soil and maintain a high level of drainage rate. Test results also showed that the combined method of VP-I-ECM significantly improved the shear strength and bearing capacity of the marine clay to satisfy the construction requirements with a significant reduction in the anode erosion and the energy consumption. This research study provides useful information for the design guide and practical application of the combined technique for improving marine clay.     

真空预压法处理疏浚吹填土软基的监测与环境影响分析

以天津港东疆围海造地形成的疏浚吹填软土地基加固工程为例,阐述了真空预压法加固疏浚吹填软土地基的加固机理,对现场的监测数据进行了成果分析,指出软基加固过程中不仅加固区域内土体变形明显,而且对周边环境影响显著,对周边的环境存在着危害。疏浚吹填土地基土体加固时会产生不均匀沉降和侧向位移,土体的这种复杂变形会造成加固区周边管线破坏和构筑物裂缝的发展,应该对其影响进行实时监测,采取必要的防护措施。     

Clogging effect of prefabricated horizontal drains in dredged soil by air booster vacuum consolidation

The typical problem that occurs when the conventional vacuum preloading (CVP) method is applied to dredged soil is that the drainage is impeded, permeability is progressively reduced, and clogging occurs in prefabricated horizontal drains (PHDs). This paper proposes a method in which air booster through PHDs under vacuum preloading to reinforce newly dredged soil, and thereby solve the clogging problem. To evaluate the proposed method, several experiments were conducted using soils with variable degrees of consolidation and the effect on clogging determined. Furthermore, the proposed method was compared to the CVP method considering several variables monitored during consolidation and after consolidation. The results indicate that the proposed method is superior to the CVP as it more effectively alleviates the clogging problem. These findings could provide design criteria for dredged soil consolidation in similar projects and for scientific research and engineering practice.     

真空预压法加固软基三维有限元计算

为预测广州南沙港区某真空预压加固工程的效果与影响范围,针对真空预压加固大面积软基的变形特点,提出将单井涂抹效应对涂抹区内土体渗透性的弱化作用转化为减小单井影响区内土体水平向渗透系数的方法,既可减少三维有限元计算的前处理工作量,又可考虑砂井地基的涂抹效应,讨论了网格尺寸对固结度的影响。并视土体为多孔介质,采用比奥固结理论,结合依托工程,建立了较大规模的三维模型并进行有限元计算分析,计算结果与现场监测数据吻合得较好。     

水下真空预压过程中孔隙水压力变化规律研究

孔隙水压力的量测和分析对研究水下真空预压法具有重要意义。在已经完成的水下真空预压现场试验中,把孔隙水压力做为主要研究对象进行了监测。结果显示孔隙水压力的变化受膜上水压和膜下负压的影响。水下真空预压期间土体中各点应力的改变等于加固前孔压与加固过程中孔压之差。膜上水压可以做为预压荷载。当膜上水压增大时,增加的水压使土体产生正的超静孔隙水压力,相当于堆载。水下真空预压过程中负超静孔压分布的不均匀使加固区内产生差异沉降和不均匀的强度增长。