One-dimensional electroosmosis consolidation model considering variable saturation

The existing models for electroosmosis are based on the hypothesis of fully saturated soil regime. Variable saturation occurs in the soil regime, thus a new model is expected to improve the calculation accuracy. This study proposes a numerical model, UEC1, for one-dimensional electroosmosis consolidation considering variable saturation. This model employs piecewise linear finite difference method to account for the nonlinear variation of physical and electro-chemical soil properties caused by the large deformation occurring during the consolidation. The FORTRAN programming package is used to implement the computation of the model. An excellent agreement is obtained between the UEC1 and test results. This model is applied to example studies to demonstrate the consolidation progress of partially saturated soils. The numerical calculations indicate that the residual saturation degree has significant influence on soil settlement.