Consolidation Analysis of Ideal Sand-Drained Ground with Fractional-Derivative Merchant Model and Non-Darcian Flow Described by Non-Newtonian Index

Abstract EN

To further investigate the rheological consolidation mechanism of soft soil ground with vertical drains, the fractional-derivative Merchant model (FDMM) is introduced to describe the viscoelastic behavior of saturated clay around the vertical drains, and the flow model with the non-Newtonian index is employed to describe the non-Darcian flow in the process of rheological consolidation.

Accordingly, the governing partial differential equation of the ideal sand-drained ground with coupled radial-vertical flow is obtained under the assumption that the vertical strains develop freely.

Then, the numerical solution to the consolidation system is conducted using the implicit finite difference method.

The validity of this method is verified by comparing the results of Barron’s consolidation theory.

Furthermore, the effects of the parameters of non-Darcian flow and FDMM on the rheological consolidation of ground with vertical drains are illustrated and discussed.