Abstract
The paper presents a theory of non-linear consolidation for radial flow of a clay deposit treated with PVDs considering linear void ratio-log effective stress relationship, constant coefficient of consolidation but with ramp or construction loading. The governing equation of consolidation is solved numerically by the finite difference method. Parametric study quantifies the effects of magnitude of surcharge load and construction time on the variations of degree of settlement and degree of dissipation of excess pore pressures with time. The maximum induced excess pore water pressure is sensitive to the construction time for a given surcharge load. The variation of degree of settlement is dependent on both applied load intensity and the construction time. While the rate of building up of pore pressure with time during the construction is almost independent of stress increment ratio, the dissipation rate is shown to be dependent on stress increment ratio.
