AN INVERSE PROBLEM APPROACH TO THE PREDICTION OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CONSOLIDATION BEHAVIOR

Abstract

This study intends to give theoretical bases for the observational procedure of predicting multi-dimensional consolidation behavior, in which the observations of deformations and/or excess pore water pressures raised in the early stages of consolidation are utlized for the prediction of those behavior in the successive future stage.The developed procedure is based on the Biot's linear elastic consolidation theory and is applicable to inhomogeneous soil mass with anisotropic soil properties concerning both elasticity and permeability. For the purpose of practical use the procedure is introduced in two ways, one is under constant load condition and the other, under gradual load application. Furthermore, taking field engineering practice into consideration, the method is presented for two cases, one is the case when excess pore water pressure behavior can be observed and the other, not observed.The numerical simulations using finite element analyses and some actual field observations show the high applicability of the proposed procedure.