Modelling unanticipated pore-water pressures in soft clays

Abstract

Field observations in thin soft clay layers may show pore-water pressures that increase for some time after the loading is applied. Reasons for these observations are not well understood. The paper shows how an elastic viscoplastic constitutive model incorporated into the consolidation equation can predict these pore-water pressure increases in soils that exhibit significant creep behaviour (or secondary compression). The phenomenon has been related to relaxation in regions of the profile from which drainage has not yet begun. Key words : clay, consolidation, creep, secondary compression, viscous, relaxation, pore-water pressure, elastic–plastic.