Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

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Computers and Geotechnics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compgeo

Research Paper

Consolidation of unsaturated composite ground reinforced by permeable T

columns
Lei Wanga,b,c, Annan Zhoub, , Yongfu Xuc, Xiaohe Xiac
⁎

a
School of Urban Railway Transportation, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China
b
Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, School of Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
c
Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In this paper, the governing equations and semi-analytical solutions are proposed to investigate the consolida-
Unsaturated soil tion behavior of unsaturated composite ground with the permeable columns. Based on the stress and strain
Composite ground equilibrium conditions of composite ground and the strain–stress relations of unsaturated soils under the ax-
Consolidation isymmetric condition, a set of the basic equations are proposed for describing the strain–stress relations of soil
Permeable column
element, air and water phases of unsaturated soils in the composite ground. Then, two consolidation equations
Semi-analytical solution
for air and water phases are derived considering the continuity of pore volume change, and flow laws for air and
water phases under the axisymmetric condition. Correspondingly, the semi-analytical solutions of the con-
solidation equations are proposed by using the Laplace and finite Hankel transforms. The proposed governing
equations as well as the semi-analytical solutions are verified by checking against the existing ones for a special
case in the literature. Finally, a parametric study is performed to investigate the consolidation behavior with
different parameters for the permeable columns and surrounding unsaturated soils.

1. Introduction
The granular column, alternatively known as the permeable column
or the stone column, has been widely used to enhance the soil ground
by acting as the replacement body, which can bear the external load
and provide the drainage pathway. By applying granular column, the
natural soil ground turns to be the composite ground companying with
the replacement body composed of gravels or sands. Since the ground
water level is varying in general, the soils around the permeable column
can be either saturated or unsaturated.
Based on the solid conceptual framework for one-dimensional (1D)
consolidation of saturated soils proposed by Terzaghi (1943), the con-
solidation analyses of saturated soils with drain wells and saturated
composite ground with granular columns have been well performed as
the extension of Terzaghi’s consolidation theory (Barron, 1948; Hansbo,
1981). The pioneering work had been done by Barron (1948), who
studied the consolidation of saturated soils by drain well under the free
strain and equal strain assumptions. The influence on the consolidation
process of well resistance and smear effect was also considered in his
work. Hansbo (1981) presented a simple solution for the calculation of
the consolidation of fine-grained soils by prefabricated ban-shaped
drains regarding well resistance and smear effect. It has been noticed
that granular columns could also accelerate the rate of consolidation of
soft clays (Balaam and Booker, 1981; Barksdale and Bachus, 2012).
Therefore, the study on the consolidation of composite ground with
granular columns became popular within geotechnical engineering re-
search. For example, Han and Ye (2001) presented a simplified solution
for the consolidation rate of granular column reinforced foundations
based on three effective assumptions about the granular columns.
Considering the unequal flow and deformation between the column and
the surrounding soils, Xie et al. (2009) presented three distribution
patterns of the horizontal permeability in the disturbed soil zone and
derived the governing equations and the solutions for the average ex-
cess pore-water pressures within the column and the entire foundation.
Some key factors that influence the consolidation behavior of composite
ground with permeable columns have been identified and discussed in
the literature, such as the effects of smear and well resistance (Han and
Ye, 2002; Indraratna and Redana, 2000), time-dependent loading
(Wang, 2009), the variation of soil permeability in the disturbed soil
zone with the deformation-consolidation interaction of the column (Lu
et al., 2010), the geometric change of sand column (Mujah et al., 2016),
the change of permeability and compressibility (Deb and Behera,
2017a, b; Zhang et al., 2006), Fiber reinforcement (Wang et al., 2019c)
and spatial variation of total stress and drain resistance under free

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: annan.zhou@rmit.edu.au (A. Zhou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2020.103706
Received 10 April 2020; Received in revised form 21 May 2020; Accepted 9 June 2020
0266-352X/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

Nomenclature m2s coefficient of volume change with respect to a change

inua u w
Ap cross-sectional area of a permeable column m1wk coefficient of water volume change with respect to a
Au cross-sectional area of the unit cell of composite ground change in
Cac interactive constant for the composite ground with respect m2w coefficient of water volume change with respect to a
to air phase change inua u w
Cwc interactive constant for the composite ground with respect n natural number
to the water phase q0 initial surcharge
Cvca coefficient of volume change for the composite ground re radius of the equivalent reinforced zone
with respect to air phase in the x-direction rw radius of the permeable column
Crca coefficient of volume change for the composite ground R universal gas constant
with respect to air phase in the x-direction Sr0 initial degree of saturation
C ac coefficient of volume change for the composite ground s complex number
with respect to air phase in the z-direction t time
Cvcw coefficient of volume change for the composite ground ua excess pore-air pressure
with respect to water phase in the x-direction uatm atmospheric pressure
Crcw coefficient of volume change for the composite ground ua0 initial excess pore-air pressure
with respect to water phase in the x-direction uw pore-water pressure
C wc coefficient of volume change for the composite ground u w0 initial excess pore-water pressure
with respect to water phase in the z-direction w settlement
Ep constrained modulus of the permeable column w* normalized settlement
Es compressive modulus of saturated soils wmax final settlement of unsaturated composite ground
g gravitational acceleration z investigated depth
h thickness of the soil layer w unit weight of water
kaz coefficient of air permeability in the z-direction total strain of the unit cell of composite ground
kar coefficient of air permeability in r-direction s total strain of the surrounding unsaturated soils of com-
k wz coefficient of water permeability in the z-direction posite ground
k wr coefficient of water permeability in r-direction p total strain of the permeable column of composite ground
K vertical-radial stress ratio v total volumetric strain
m area replacement ratio of composite ground absolute temperature
m0, m1 two intermediate variables x total stress in the x-direction
M molecular mass of air r total stress in the r-direction
m1ak coefficient of air volume change with respect to a change z total stress in the z-direction
in ua ¯p total average vertical stresses of the permeable column
m2a coefficient of air volume change with respect to a change ¯s total average vertical stresses of surrounding unsaturated
inua u w soils,
m1sk coefficient of volume change with respect to a change (t ) external load
in ua

strain assumption (Doan and Fatahi, 2020) were respectively con-
sidered. In addition, Lu et al. (2015, 2018) proposed analytical models
for the consolidation of composite ground with impervious column and
vertical drains, where the nonlinear consolidation of vertical drains
coupled with the radial and vertical flow considering well resistance.
Comparing with the well-developed consolidation theory of satu-
rated composite ground with permeable columns, the study on the
consolidation of unsaturated soils is still in the early stage. Scott (1965)
perhaps first investigated the consolidation characteristics of un-
saturated soils with occluded air bubbles. Barden (1965) analyzed the
one-dimensional consolidation property of a compacted unsaturated
clay deposit. Based on the continuity assumption of air and water flow
and the constitutive relations for volume change with two stress vari-
ables for unsaturated soils (Fredlund and Morgenstern, 1976), Fredlund
and his colleagues presented a pioneering study on the consolidation of
unsaturated soils, which can be used to predict the dissipation of excess
pore-air and pore-water pressures for the one-dimensional, two-di-
mensional plane strain and axisymmetric cases (Dakshanamurthy and
Fredlund, 1980; Darkshanamurthy et al., 1984; Fredlund and Hasan,
1979). Lloret and Alonso (1980) presented the consolidation formula of
unsaturated soils with considering the highly non-linear permeability of
the air and water phases and the complex swelling/collapse behavior.
Recently, based on the previous study (Fredlund and Hasan, 1979), the
one-dimensional consolidation behavior of unsaturated soils have been
investigated intensively by using analytical, semi-analytical or
numerical method under various initial, boundary and loading condi-
tions (Ho and Fatahi, 2016; Ho et al., 2014; Qin et al., 2008, 2010a,b;
Shan et al., 2012; Wang et al., 2017a, b, 2018a; Zhou and Zhao, 2014;
Zhou et al., 2017, 2014). Furthermore, to simulate the consolidation of
unsaturated soils with vertical drain, the analytical and semi-analytical
solutions to the two-dimensional plane strain consolidation equations
were proposed recently (Ho and Fatahi, 2015; Ho et al., 2015; Wang
et al., 2018b, 2019a, b). Then, the analysis of axisymmetric con-
solidation of unsaturated soils with vertical drains was also reported in
the literature (Ho and Fatahi, 2017, 2018; Ho et al., 2016; Qin et al.,
2010c; Zhou et al., 2018). However, it should be noted that the ax-
isymmetric consolidation with vertical drains is to some extent similar
to that of composite ground with permeable columns. An unsaturated
soil ground with vertical drains is usually not treated as composite
ground since the vertical drains only provide the radial flow path to the
air and water phases but do not contribute to the bearing capacity of the
ground. Therefore, the consolidation of unsaturated ground with ver-
tical drains is very different from the consolidation of the unsaturated
composite ground with permeable columns.
As introduced above, it is clear that (1) the consolidation of the
saturated composite ground with permeable columns and (2) the con-
solidation of unsaturated soils under one-dimensional, two-dimensional
and axisymmetric conditions have been studied. However, owing to the
complex mechanical characteristics of unsaturated soils (Zhou et al.,
2012a, b; Gao et al., 2019), the theoretical study on the consolidation of

2
L. Wang, et al.
the unsaturated composite ground is rarely reported in the literature.
Nonetheless, considering natural evaporation and artificial dewatering,
the composite ground reinforced by granular columns is inevitable to be
unsaturated for many circumstances in the practical engineering. Thus,
there is a high demand from geotechnical researchers and engineers to
develop a solid consolidation model for the unsaturated composite
ground with permeable columns.
This study aims to derive the consolidation equations for the un-
saturated composite ground with permeable columns and provide semi-
analytical solutions that can be directly employed to investigate the
consolidation behavior of unsaturated composite ground. The con-
stitutive relations for air/water phrases within unsaturated soils are
established by considering the stress and strain characteristics of com-
posite ground and the axisymmetric consolidation of unsaturated soils.
Based on the proposed constitutive relationships, the continuity as-
sumption and the flow laws for air/water phases, the novel consolida-
tion equations in terms of air/water phases are proposed in this paper.
The semi-analytical solutions for the proposed consolidation equations
are then provided by using the Laplace transform and the finite Hankel
transform. The proposed governing equations and the semi-analytical
solutions are verified by checking against existing equations and solu-
tions for a special case in the literature. A parametric study is im-
plemented to analyze the consolidation behavior of the unsaturated
composite ground with permeable columns, which can be helpful to
geotechnical engineers in terms of practical ground treatment of un-
saturated soils by using granular columns.
2. Consolidation equations for unsaturated composite ground
with permeable columns
The permeable columns in the composite ground, on one hand, is
used to carry part of the vertical load (mechanical aspect). On the other
hand, they are also employed as the flow paths in the radial direction
for the air and water phases of unsaturated soils (hydraulic aspect). The
consolidation equations of composite ground with permeable columns
will be derived through considering both mechanical and hydraulic
aspects of permeable columns and axisymmetric consolidation property
of surrounding unsaturated soils. It should be noted that the con-
solidation equations of unsaturated composite ground with permeable
columns are proposed by using different stress variables principles and
flow laws, comparing with that of saturated composite ground. For
saturated composite ground, Darcy’s law is employed for water phase
flows and Terzaghi’s effective stress principle is adopted for the
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the consolidation model of unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns.
3
Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706
consolidation. However, for unsaturated composite ground, Darcy’s law
and Fick’s law are employed for flows of water phase and air phase,
respectively. Approach using independent stress variables (net stress
and suction) proposed by Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976) are
adopted for describing consolidation behavior of unsaturated composite
ground.
2.1. Schematic model and basic assumptions
The consolidation problem of unsaturated composite ground with
the permeable column can be outlined in Fig. 1. The diagram of the
composite ground consists of two parts: (1) the permeable column in
the center and (2) unsaturated soils in the surrounding. The con-
solidation model proposed in this paper mainly focuses on the con-
solidation problem of the surrounding unsaturated soils. As shown in
Fig. 1, the length of the permeable column is equal to the thickness (h)
of an unsaturated soil layer. rw represents the radius of the permeable
column and re is the radius of the equivalent reinforced zone, which is
decided by the arrangement shape and distance of the columns.
The main assumptions for establishing the consolidation model of
unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns are summar-
ized here.
(1) The permeable column and the surrounding unsaturated soils in the
composite ground deform equally at any depth.
(2) The consolidation of the permeable column is neglected, and the
strain of a permeable column is the ratio of the average external
load carried by the column to the modulus of the column.
(3) The external load is applied only in the vertical direction.
(4) The unsaturated soil stratum is homogeneous.
(5) Water phase and soil particles are incompressible;
(6) The flow of air/water phase is independent and continuous;
(7) Air/water phase can flow along the radial and vertical directions
(8) The permeability and compressibility coefficients of unsaturated
soils are constants.
2.2. Equilibrium conditions
For a composite ground, when a vertical load increment (t ) is
applied on the surface of the ground, the vertical external load will be
jointly carried by the column and surrounding soils. The strains of the
column, soils, and the composite ground should be the same. Therefore,
we have
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

(1 m) ¯s + m ¯p = (t ) (1) 3 v m 2s (ua uw )
¯s = + ua
1 + 2K m1sk (12)
= s = p (2)
where ¯s and ¯p are the total average vertical stresses carried by sur- On the other hand, ¯p can be presented by combining Eqs. (2) and
rounding soils and the column (or pile), respectively. m is the area re- (3)
placement ratio and m = Ap /Au , where Ap is the cross-sectional area of
a column and Au is the cross-sectional area of the unit cell of a com- ¯p = s Ep (13)
posite ground. , s and p are the total strain of the unit cell of the
composite ground, surrounding soils and column, respectively. Submitting Eqs. (12) and (13) into Eq. (11), we have
According to the assumption (2), the strain of the permeable column in
the composite ground p can be expressed as follow: m1sk (1 + 2K ) m2s
= (t ) ua +
( ) ( )
v
m1sk (1 + 2K ) mEc 3(1 m ) m1sk (1 + 2K ) mEc
¯p 3(1 m)
+1 3(1 m)
+1
p =
Ep (3)
(u a u w) (14)
where Ep is the constrained modulus of the column.
The constitutive relations for the surrounding unsaturated soils had Eq. (14) can be rewritten as
been proposed and verified by Fredlund and Morgenstern (1976), in
which the total volume change of an unsaturated soil element is equal m1sk m2s
v = (m1 (t ) ua ) + (ua uw)
to the sum of the volume changes associated with the air and water m0 m0 (15)
phases in the element. Based on the assumption of the incompressibility m1sk (1 + 2K ) mEc 1 + 2K
of solid particle and water phase, the total volume change is equal to where m 0 = 3(1 m)
+ 1 and m1 = 3(1 m) .
the pore volume change of an unsaturated soil element. The first-order partial derivative of Eq. (15) on time t can be written
as
V Vv Va Vw
s = = = +
V0 V0 V0 V0 (4) m1sk (m1 (t ) ua ) m 2s (ua u w )
v
= +
where Vv is pore volume, Va is the volume of air phase, Vw is the volume t m0 t m0 t (16)
of the water phase, V0 is the volume of an unsaturated soil element.
The constitutive relations of unsaturated soils under an axisym- According to Eqs. (4)–(7), Eq. (16) can be divided into two con-
metric condition can be written as stitutive relations for air and water phases, respectively, as follows:

Vv ¯r + ¯ + ¯z m1ak (m1 (t ) ua ) m2a (ua u w )

= m1sk ua + m2s (ua u w) a
= +
V0 3 (5) t m0 t m0 t (17)
Va ¯r + ¯ + ¯z
= m1ak ua + m2a (ua uw)
V0 3 (6) w m1wk (m1 (t ) ua ) m 2w (ua u w )
= +
t m0 t m0 t (18)
Vw ¯r + ¯ + ¯z
= m1wk ua + m2w (ua uw)
V0 3 (7) Eqs. (16)–(18) are the constitutive relations for the unsaturated soil
where m1sk ,
and are, respectively, the coefficients of volume
m1ak m1wk element, air and water phases, respectively. They can be applied to
change for the soil element, air and water phases with respect to a net describe the stress–strain relationship of the unsaturated composite
ground under the axisymmetric condition.
stress change of
¯r + ¯ + ¯z
3 ( )
ua . m1sk = m1ak + m1wk . m2s , m2a and m2w
are, respectively, the coefficient of volume change for the soil element,
the air and water phases with respect to a change in suction of
2.4. Consolidation equations for air and water phases
(ua u w ) . m2s = m 2a + m2w . ua and u w are excess pore-air and pore-
water pressures, respectively. ¯r , ¯ and ¯z are the total stress in the r-, θ-
According to the assumption of the continuity of the airflow and
and z-directions, respectively. According to assumptions (4) and (5), we
Fick’s law for the flow rate of air under axisymmetric condition, the
have ¯s = ¯z , ¯r = ¯ and ¯z / ¯r = ¯z / ¯r = K under the axisymmetric
relationship between a and ua should obey the following equation (Ho
condition. Thus, Eqs. (5)–(7) can be rewritten as
et al., 2016),
Vv 1 + 2K
= m1sk ¯s ua + m 2s (ua u w)
V0 3 (8) a
t
Va 1 + 2K
= m1ak ¯s ua + m2a (ua u w) RT 2u
a 1 ua 2u
a n 0 (1 Sr 0) ua
V0 3 (9) = kar + + kaz
gM (ua0 + uatm ) r2 r r z2 (ua0 + uatm ) t
Vw
= m1wk
1 + 2K
¯s ua + m2w (ua u w) (19)
V0 3 (10)
where g is the acceleration of gravity (g = 9.8 m/s2). kar and kaz are
permeability coefficient of air in the radial and vertical directions, re-
2.3. Constitutive relations of the unsaturated composite ground with spectively. M is the molecular mass of air (M = 0.029 kg/mol). n 0 and
permeable columns Sr0 are initial porosity and initial degree of saturation. R is the universal
gas constant (R = 8.314 J/mol/K), and uatm is atmospheric pressure. T
The stress increase for the granular column ( ¯p ) can be calculated is the absolute temperature. Combining Eqs. (17) and (19) yields
by using Eq. (1) as below
(t ) (1 m ) ¯s
¯p =
m (11)
where ¯s can be determined by using Eq. (8) as,

4
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

ua m1 m1wk
Cvc =
t m2w (25h)
m 2a
= Eqs. (23) and (24) are the consolidation governing equations of
m0 ( m2a
m0
m1ak
+
n 0 (1
(ua0 + uatm )
Sr 0)
) unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns. If the external
load is constant, Eqs. (23) and (24) can be simplified as
uw RT
+
t
( m2a
m0
m1ak
+
n 0 (1
(ua0 + uatm )
Sr 0)
) gM (u 0
a + uatm ) ua
t
u
= Cac w + Cvrc
t
a
2u

r2
a
+
1 ua
r r
a
+ Cvzc
2u

z2
a
(26)
2u
a 1 ua 2u
a m1 m1ak
kar + + kaz
( ) uw u 2u 1 uw 2u
r2 r r z2 m0
m2a m1ak
+
n 0 (1 Sr 0)
= Cwc a + Cvrc
w w
+ w
+ Cvzc w
m0 (ua0 + uatm ) t t r2 r r z2 (27)
(t )
If the vertical flow is neglected, Eqs. (23) and (24) can be reduced to
t (20)
ua u 2u 1 ua
Similarly, based on the assumption of the continuity of the water = Cac w + Cvrc
a a
+
flow and Darcy’s law for the flow rate of water under the axisymmetric t t r2 r r (28)
condition (Ho et al., 2016), the relationship between w and u w can be 2u
uw u 1 uw
presented as follows, = Cwc a + Cvrc
w w
+
t t r2 r r (29)
1 2u 1 uw 2u
w w w
= k wr + + k wz
t r2 r r z2 (21)
w
3. Semi-analytical solutions of consolidation equations
where w is the density of the water phase. k wr and k wz are the per-
meability coefficient of water in radial and vertical directions, respec- 3.1. Mathematical methods
tively. Combining Eqs. (18) and (21) produces
Finite Hankel and Laplace transforms and their inverse transforms
uw
are used in the solving process of consolidation equations of un-
t
saturated composite ground with permeable columns. The definitions of
m1wk m2w ua m 0 k wr 2u 1 uw m 0 k wz 2u m1wk
= w
+ w
+ the mathematical methods used in this part are briefly introduced as
m 2w t m2w w r2 r r m2w w z2 m 2w follows:
m1 (t )
t (22) 3.1.1. Finite Hankel transform
Eqs. (20) and (22) can be further simplified as follows. The finite Hankel transform of a function f(x), defined for all real
numbers a x b, is the function H ( n ) (Sneddon, 1972). The trans-
ua u 2u 1 ua 2u (t )
= Cac w + Cvrc
a a
+ a
+ Cvzc a
+ Cvc form can be defined by
t t r2 r r z2 t (23)
b
H ( n) = xf (x )[J0 ( n x)Y ( n a) J0 ( n a) Y ( n x )] dx (30)
2u 2u a
uw u 1 uw (t )
= Cwc a + Cvrc
w w
+ w
+ Cvzc w
+ Cvc
t t r2 r r z2 t (24) where J0 ( n) and Y0 ( n) and are the Bessel functions of the first kind and
the second kind of zero-order. It should be noted that f (a) and f ' (b) are
where Cac and Cwc are interactive constants with respect to the air and
all constants in this case. n is the n-th positive root of the equation as
water phases, respectively; Cvrc a
, and C ac are the consolidation coeffi-
follows:
cients for air phase; Cvrc
w
, Cvzc
w
and C wc are the consolidation coefficients
for the water phase. The consolidation parameters can be summarized J0 ( n a) Y1 ( n b) J1 ( n b) Y0 ( n a) =0 (31)
as follows:
where J1 ( n) and Y1 ( n ) and are the Bessel functions of the first kind and
m2a the second kind of one-order.
Cac =
m0 ( m1ak
m0
m2a n 0 (1
(ua0 + uatm )
Sr 0)
) (25a) 3.1.2. Laplace transform
The Laplace transform of a function f(t), defined for all real numbers
kar RT
a
Cvrc = t ≥ 0, is the function F(s) (Sneddon, 1972). The Laplace transform is a
gM (ua0 + uatm ) ( m1ak
m0
m2a n0 (1 Sr 0)
(ua0 + uatm ) ) (25b)
unilateral transform defined by

F (s ) = f (t ) e st dt
a kaz RT 0 (32)
Cvzc =
gM (ua0 + uatm ) ( m1ak
m0
m2a n 0 (1 Sr 0)
(ua0 + uatm ) ) (25c)
where s is a complex number frequency parameter.

m1 m1ak 3.2. Initial and boundary conditions

Cvc =
m0 ( m1ak
m0
m2a n 0 (1
(ua0 + uatm )
Sr 0)
) (25d) The initial condition can be presented as follows

m1wk m2w ua (r , z , 0) = ua0 (33a)

Cwc =
m 2w (25e)
u w (r , z , 0) = u w0 (33b)
m 0 k wr
w
Cvrc = where and
ua0 are the initial excess pore-air and pore-water pres-
u w0
m 2w w (25f) sures, respectively. The Boundary condition can be given as below:
m 0 k wz (i) Radial boundary
w
Cvzc =
m 2w w (25g) r = rw: u w (rw, z , t ) = 0, ua (rw, 0, t ) = 0 (34a)

5
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

u w (re, z , t ) ua (re, z, t ) 4u 2u
w , HL w, HL
r = re: = 0, =0 a1 + a2 + a3 u w, HL + a4 = 0
r r (34b) z4 z2 (45)
(ii) Vertical boundary where a1 = Cvza Cvzw , a2 = Cvza (s + 2 w
n, w Cvr ) Cvzw (s n, a Cvr ) ,
2 a

z = 0: u w (r , 0, t ) = 0, ua (r , 0, t ) = 0 (35a) a3 = (s 2 a
n, a Cvr )(s
2 w
n, w Cvr ) s 2Ca Cw ,
2 a 0
a4 = n, a Cvr Cw ua, H + (sCa Cw s + n2, a Cvra ) u w0 , H . The general solution
u w (r , h , t ) u a (r , h , t ) of Eq. (45) is
z = h: = 0, =0
z z (35b) a4
u w, HL = C1 e z + C2 e z + D1 e z + D2 e z
a3 (46)
3.3. Semi-analytical solutions of excess pore-air and pore-water pressures in a2 + a22 a22
where , and C1, C2, D1, and
4a1 a3 a2 4a1 a3
= , =
the Laplace transform domain 2a1 2a1
D2 are arbitrary functions of n and s, which can be determined by the
Based on the definition of finite Hankel transform and the radial boundary conditions.
boundaries, applying finite Hankel transform of zero-order to Eqs. (26) Taking the first-order derivative of Eq. (46) with respect to z gives
and (27) gives u w, HL z z z z
= C1 e C2 e + D1 e D2 e
u w, H ua, H 2u z (47)
2 w w, H
= Cw + n, w Cvr u w, H Cvzw
t t z2 (36) Similarly, the general solution of ua, HL can get as follow:

ua, H u w, H 2 a
2u
a, H
ua, HL = C1 b1 e z + C2 b1 e z + D1 b 2 e z + D2 b2 e z + b3 (48)
= Ca + n, a Cvr ua, H Cvza
t t z2 (37) 2 w
n, w Cvr
2C w s 2 w
n, w Cvr
2C w s
where b1 = sCw
vz
, b2 = sCw
vz
, b3 =
re
where ua, H = H (ua ) = r e ua B0 ( n, a r ) rdr ,
r
u w , H = H (u w ) = u w B0 ( n, w r ) rdr , s 2 w
n, w Cvr a4 uw0 , H + Cw ua0, H
w rw
+ .
( ) ( )
2u 2u sCw
a3 sCw
H n, a ua, H , H n, w u w , H . The inverse
a 1 uw 2 w 1 uw 2
+ = + = Taking the first-order derivative of Eq. (48) with respect to z pro-
r2 r r r2 r r
finite Hankel transform can be expressed as duces
ui, H uHL, a
ui = H 1 [ui, H ] = B0 ( n, i r ) = A1 b1 e z B1 b1 e z + C1 b2 e z D1 b2 e z
n=1 B02 ( n, i r ) (38) z (49)
where B0 ( n, i r ) = J0 ( n, i r ) Y0 ( n, i rw ) J0 ( n, i rw ) Y0 ( n, i r ) , B02 Eqs. (46) and (48) are the general solutions of Eqs. (26) and (27) in
( n, i r ) = , the domain of finite Hankel transform and Laplace transform, and Eqs.
1 2 (47) and (49) are the first-order derivative of Eqs. (46) and (48).
r
2 e Applying Laplace transform and finite Hankel transform on the
{[Y0 ( n, i rw ) J0 ( n, i re ) J0 ( n, i rw ) Y0 ( n, i re )]
2
vertical boundaries, i.e. Eqs. (35a) and (35b), leads to
2 2
+ [Y0 ( n, i rw ) J1 ( n, i re ) J0 ( n, i rw ) Y1 ( n, i re )] } 2 2 ua, HL ( n , 0, s ) = 0, u w, HL ( n , 0, s ) = 0 (50a)
n, i
J0 ( n, i rw ) . Y0 ( n, i rw ) are the Bessel functions of the first kind and the
ua, HL ( n , h, s ) u w, HL ( n , h, s )
second kind of zero-order at r = rw , J1 ( n, i re ) and Y1 ( n, i re ) are the Bessel = 0, =0
z z (50b)
functions of the first kind and the second kind of one-order one at r = re .
n, i are the positive roots of the transcendental equation, Submitting Eqs. (46)–(49) into Eqs. (50a) and (50b) produces
J0 ( a4
n, i rw ) Y1 ( n, i re ) J1 ( n, i re ) Y0 ( n, i rw ) =0 C1 + C2 + D1 + D2 =
a3 (51a)
Conducting Laplace transform on Eqs. (36) and (37) leads to
C1 b1 + C2 b1 + D1 b2 + D2 b2 = b3 (51b)
2 w
Cvzw 2u
w, HL s n, w Cvr u w0 , H + Cw ua0, H
ua, HL = u w, HL + C1 e H C2 e H + D1 e H D2 e H =0 (51c)
sCw z2 sCw sCw (39)

Cvza s 2 a
ua0, H + Ca u w0 , H C1 b1 e H C2 b1 e H + D1 b2 e H D 2 b2 e H =0 (51d)
n, a Cvr
2u
a, HL
u w, HL = ua, HL +
sCa z2 sCa sCa (40) Eq. (51) can be easily solved, and the solutions of C1, C2, D1, and D2
are
where ua, HL and u w, HL are the results of finite Hankel transform and
Laplace transform of excess pore-air and pore-water pressures. a4 b2 + a3 b3 e H
C1 =
Through the finite Hankel transform, the initial excess pore-air/ H
a3 (b1 b2 ) e + e H (52a)
water pressures can be calculated as follows:
a4 b2 + a3 b3 eH
re C2 =
ua0, H = ua0 B0 ( n, i r ) rdr a3 (b1 b2 ) e H +e H (52b)
rw (41)
re a4 b1 + a3 b3 e H
u w0 , H = u w0 B0 ( n, i r ) rdr
D1 =
rw (42) a3 (b1 b2 ) e H + e H
(52c)

Taking the first-order and second-order derivative of Eq. (39) with a4 b1 + a3 b3 e H

D2 =
respect to z gives a3 (b1 b2 ) e H +e H
(52d)
Submitting Eqs. (52) into Eqs. (46) and (48) gives
2 w
ua, HL Cvzw 3u
w, HL s n, w Cvr u w, HL
=
z sCw z3 sCw z (43)
1 Cosh [ (H z )] 2 Cosh [ (H z )] a4
u w, HL = +
2u Cvzw 4u s 2 w 2u Cosh [ H ] Cosh [ H ] a3 (53)
a, HL w, HL n, w Cvr w , HL
=
z2 sCw z4 sCw z2 (44) b1 1 Cosh [ (H z )] b2 2 Cosh [ (H z )]
ua, HL = + + b3
Submitting Eqs. (43) and (44) into Eq. (40), we have Cosh [ H ] Cosh [ H ] (54)

6
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

a b +a b
where, 1 = a4 (b2 b3 )3 , 2 =
a4 b1 + a3 b3
a3 (b1 b2 )
. Submitting Eqs. (53) and (54) into the domain of finite Hankel transform and Laplace transform, and Eqs.
3 1 2
(38), respectively, has (55) and (56) are excess pore-air and pore-water pressures in the do-
main of Laplace transform.
1 Cosh [ (H z )] 2 Cosh [ (H z )] a4
Cosh [ H ]
+ Cosh [ H ] a3
u w, L = B0 ( n, w r )
n= 1 B02 ( n, w r ) (55)
3.4. Semi-analytical solution for settlement in the Laplace domain
b1 1 Cosh [ (H z )] b2 2 Cosh [ (H z )]
+ + b3
Cosh [ H ] Cosh [ H ] The deformation of unsaturated composite ground with permeable
ua, L = B0 ( n, a r )
n=1 B02 ( n, a r ) (56) columns can be calculated by Eq. (16). When the applied external load
is a constant one, applying the Laplace transform on Eq. (16) produces
Eqs. (53) and (54) are excess pore-air and pore-water pressures in

0.0 0.0
ua/u0a (-)
1.00
t=106s t=107s
0.88
0.2 0.2
0.75
0.4 0.4 0.63
z/h (-)

0.50
0.6 0.6 0.38
0.25
0.8 0.8
0.13
1.0 1.0 0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
r/rw (-) r/rw (-)
(a) 2D charts of excess pore-air pressure ua at different dissipation stages
uw/u0w (-)
0.0 0.0 1.00
0.88
0.2 0.2
0.75

0.4 0.4 0.63

z/h (-)

0.50
0.6 0.6 0.38
0.25
0.8 0.8
0.13
t=106s t=107s
1.0 1.0 0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
r/rw (-) r/rw (-)
(b) 2D charts of excess pore-water pressure uw at different dissipation stages
w/wmax (-)
105 1.00

0.88

0.75
106
0.63
t (s)

0.50

0.38
107
0.25

0.13

108 0.00
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
r/rw (-)
(c) 2D chart of settlement w
Fig. 2. Model performance in terms of excess pore-air/water pressures and settlement.

7
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

m 2s m1sk m 2s (m 2s m1sk ) ua0, L m2s u w0 , L m2s = 1.128 × 10 4 kPa−1, m2w = 2.034 × 10 4 kPa−1, q0 = 100 kPa,
= ua, L u w, L +
s, L
m0 m0 sm 0 sm 0 (57) ua0 = 20.0 kPa, u w0 = 40 kPa, and uatm = 101.3kPa. Fig. 2(a) and (b) shows
the excess pore-air and pore-water pressures at different depths
By submitting Eqs. (55) and (56) into Eq. (57), the settlement of (0 z/h 1) and radiuses (1 r / rw 8) in two different periods
composite ground for an unsaturated soil stratum in the Laplace (t = 106s and 107s ). It can be seen that, when the calculated point is far
transform domain can be calculated by to the permeable boundary, both air and water phases flow difficultly
h and need more time to dissipate completely (i.e., contours of the excess
w (r , s ) = s , L (r , z, s ) dz
0 pore-air/water pressures fade out gradually and diagonally). Fig. 2(c)
b1 1 Tanh [ H ]
+
b2 2 Tanh [ H ]
+ hb3 demonstrates the settlement along with the time and radius. The set-
m 2s m1sk
= B0 tlement of the permeable column is instantaneously completed with
m0 n=1 B02 ( n, a r ) loading (i.e., wmax) while the settlement of the unsaturated soil takes
1 Tanh [ H ]
+ 2 Tanh [ H ] ha4
time. The largest settlement can be achieved gradually along with the
m2s a3
( n, a r ) B0 redial direction when excess pore-air/water pressures dissipate.
m0 n=1 B02 ( n, w r )

h (m 2s m1sk ) ua0, L hm2s u w0, L 4. Verifications

( n, w r ) +
sm 0 sm 0 (58)

The semi-analytical solutions about ua, L (r , z, s ) , u w, L (r , z, s ) and The verification is performed by two steps. First, we compare the
w (r , s ) in the Laplace transform domain are presented in Eqs. (55), (56) proposed governing equations for the unsaturated composite ground
and (58), respectively, for the consolidation equations of unsaturated with the existing governing equations for a special case (axisymmetric
composite ground with permeable columns subjected to instantaneous consolidation of unsaturated soils). Then, the semi-analytical solutions
loading. for the unsaturated composite ground are further validated by using the
analytical solutions in the literature for the special case of axisymmetric
consolidation of unsaturated soils.
3.5. Analytical solutions in the time domain

4.1. Degradation of governing equations if the area replacement ratio is zero

The inverse Laplace transform on Eqs. (55), (56) and (58) is con-
ducted by using Crump’s method (Crump, 1976) to get the final solu-
When the permeable columns do not carry external loads but only
tions in the time domain. The detail of Crump’s method is briefly pre-
serve as the drainage paths (i.e., the modulus Ep is 0), the consolidation
sented in Appendix A. The analytical solutions in the time domain are
of a composite ground with permeable columns in unsaturated soils can
presented as follows:
be degraded to a special case that is an axisymmetric consolidation of
e tj 1 unsaturated soils. When Ep = 0, we have that the intermediate variable
ua (r , z , t j ) ua, L (r , z , a)
m 0 = 1, and m1 = 3 . Then, submitting Ep = 0, m0 = 1 and
1 + 2K
2
k tj into Eq. (25) yields
1 + 2K
k i m1 =
k=1
Re ua, L r , z , a + cos 3

m2a
k tj Cac =
k i m1ak m 2a
n0 (1 Sr 0)
Im ua, L r , z, a + sin (ua0 + uatm ) (62a)
(59)
a kar RT
e tj 1 Cvrc =
u w (r , z , t j )
2
u w , L (r , z , a ) gM (ua0 (
+ uatm ) m1ak m2a
n 0 (1 Sr 0)
(ua0 + uatm ) ) (62b)
k i k tj
k=1
Re u w, L r , z, a + cos kaz RT
a
Cvzc =

Im u w, L r , z , a +
k i
sin
k tj gM (ua0 (
+ uatm ) m1ak m 2a
n 0 (1 Sr 0)
(ua0 + uatm ) ) (62c)
(60)
(1 + 2K ) m1ak
Cvc =
w (r , t j )
e tj 1
2
w (r , a) k=1
Re w r , a +
k i
cos
k tj
(
3 m1ak m2a
n 0 (1 Sr 0)
(ua0 + uatm ) ) (62d)

k i k tj m1wk m2w
Im w r , a + sin Cwc =
(61)
w
m2 (62e)

For conducting the inverse Laplace transform of the proposed semi- w

Cvrc =
k wr
analytical solutions, the computation scheme of Crump’s method is also m 2w w (62f)
developed to get the specific results of excess pore-air/water pressures
and settlements. w k wz
Cvzc =
m 2w w (62g)
3.6. Model performance (1 + 2K ) m1wk
Cvc =
3m 2w (62h)
To visualize the performance of the consolidation equations and
semi-analytical solutions presented above, a series of 2D charts in terms Compared the consolidation coefficients in Eqs. (62) with those of
of excess pore-air/water pressures and settlement are shown in Fig. 2. the axisymmetric consolidation of unsaturated soils (Ho et al., 2016), it
The parameters of surrounding unsaturated soils about volume change is clear that they are the same to each other. Therefore, it can be
coefficients, material properties, and physical properties are consistent claimed that the axisymmetric consolidation of unsaturated soils is a
with the literature (Ho et al., 2016). Here, the parameters are assumed special case of the consolidation of composite ground with permeable
to be: h = 5m , rw = 0.25m , re = 2.0m , n0 = 50%, Sr0 = 80%, columns in unsaturated soils proposed in this study. However, the
k w = 10 10 m/s, m1sk = 5.64 × 10 4 kPa−1, m1wk = 1.13 × 10 4 kPa−1, previous study conducted by Ho et al. (2016) aimed to investigate the

8
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

axisymmetric consolidation of unsaturated soils induced by vertical
drains, where the vertical drains only provide drainage pathways but
cannot carry any external load. The unsaturated ground thus is not
reinforced by the drains. This paper proposed the consolidation equa-
tions and corresponding solutions for unsaturated composite ground
with permeable columns, in which the permeable columns can provide
drainage pathway as well as bear external load. The involvement of
permeable columns leads to both ground reinforcement and drainage
enhancement, which is the practical working condition of the most
unsaturated composite grounds.
4.2. Comparison between the proposed solutions and the existing
benchmarks
Ho et al. (2016) presented a series of analytical solutions including
dissipation of excess pore-air/water pressures and development of set-
tlement for axisymmetric consolidation in unsaturated soils, which are
employed as benchmarks of a special case to validate the proposed
semi-analytical solutions for the unsaturated composite ground.
The comparisons on the dissipation of excess pore-air pressure (see
Fig. 3(a)) and pore-water pressure (see Fig. 3(b)) at different ratios of
ka/k w between the semi-analytical solutions obtained in the study (see
dash curves) and the benchmarks (see hollow points) from (Ho et al.,
2016). As shown in Fig. 3(c), the normalized settlements (w*) obtained
earlier the dissipation of excess pore-water pressure accomplishes, and
there is no platform stage as a bigger ratio of rw/re is adopted, as shown
in Fig. 4(b). As a result, Fig. 4(c) demonstrates that a small ratio of rw/re
will lead to a bigger normalized settlement, and a longer time is needed
to reach the final settlement.
It should be noted that since the replacement area ratio of the
composite ground is (rw /re )2 , so different ratios of rw/re herein mean the
varying replacement area ratios of composite ground, and re is fixed as
2 m and a changing rw is adopted in this case. It also can be stated that
the influence on the consolidation behavior, as depicted in Fig. 4, is
caused by the varying replacement area ratios. As the total external
load is given, a larger replacement area ratio indicates a smaller load
applied on the surrounding unsaturated soils, then a smaller settlement
is induced. For example, when the replacement area ratio is 6.25%, the
final settlement of unsaturated composite ground with permeable col-
umns is only 25% of that of axisymmetric consolidation with vertical
drain only. Therefore, the reinforcement effect of permeable columns
on the unsaturated composite ground is of significance.
1
(a)
0.8
ka/kw=10.0 1.0 0.1

ua/ua 0 (-)
from proposed semi-analytical solutions (see dash curves) at different 0.6
ratios of ka/k w are also compared with the benchmarks (see hollow
points) in the literature (Ho et al., 2016). The normalized settlement 0.4
(w*) here is defined as the ratio of the settlement of composite ground
with permeable columns to the final settlement of the natural ground 0.2
(with no permeable columns). Lo et al., 2016

As shown in Fig. 3, the results of semi-analytical solutions in this This study (Ep=0)
paper match well with the benchmarks from the literature. Thus, it can 0
103 104 105 106 107 108
be proved that the consolidation equations and corresponding semi- t (s)
analytical solutions proposed in the paper are valid for describing the
consolidation behavior of an unsaturated composite ground with 1
permeable columns. 1.0 0.1
(b)
ka/kw=10.0
0.8
5. Parametric studies
uw/uw0 (-)

0.6
To investigate the consolidation behavior of unsaturated composite
ground with permeable columns, the parametric studies are conducted
0.4
by analyzing the effects of the parameters change of the permeable
column and surrounding unsaturated soils on excess pore-air/water
pressures (ua and u w ) and normalized settlement (w ). The parameters 0.2 Lo et al., 2016
used in this part are the same as those given in the section 3.6. This study(Ep=0)

0
5.1. Consolidation behavior with different parameters of permeable columns 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
t (s)
In this part, the consolidation of an unsaturated composite ground 0
with permeable columns is investigated with two key parameters of the (c)
column. They are the drain spacing ratio (re/rw) and the constrained
0.2
modulus of the pile (Ep). For the first scenario that rw/re ranges from
ka/kw=10.0 1.0 0.1
0.125 to 0.50, Ep = 7.5 × 10 4kPa , K = 1, and ka = kw = 10−10m/s. It
should be noted that since the values of m1sk and m2w are negative, the 0.4
w* (-)

adopted Ep in the example is negative correspondingly. We have that

rw/re = 0.125, K = 1, ka = kw = 10−10m/s for the second scenario that 0.6
Ep ranges from 1.5 × 10 4kPa to 15.0 × 10 4kPa .
0.8
5.1.1. Drain spacing ratio of rw/re Lo et al., 2016
Fig. 4(a), (b) and (c) show the variation of excess pore-air/water This study (Ep =0)
pressures and normalized settlement at different ratios of rw/re for the 1
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
consolidation of unsaturated composite ground with permeable col-
t (s)
umns. It can be found that when the ratio of rw/re changes, there is a
small influence on the dissipation of excess pore-air pressure, as shown Fig. 3. The comparisons at different ratios of ka/ k w between the proposed semi-
in Fig. 4(a). While the different dissipation of excess pore-water pres- analytical solutions and the benchmark solutions (Ho et al., 2016): (a) ua/ ua0 ,
sure occurs markedly at the later stage, the bigger ratio of rw/re, the (b) u w / u w0 , and (c) w .

9
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

1 composite ground, a bigger constrained modulus (Ep ) corresponds to

(a) bigger external stress in the permeable column and a smaller strain of
0.8 surrounding unsaturated soils. In addition, comparing with the re-
inforcement effect induced by changing the values of rw/re and Ep , the
increasement in rw/re has a more significant effect on the displacement
ua/ua 0 (-)

0.6
of unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns. Meanwhile,
it is difficult to realize the many times increment in the constrained
0.4 rw/re (-) modulus of the permeable column (Ep ) in engineering but enlarging the
0.125 radius of the permeable columns is easy to be implemented. Thus, the
0.25
0.2 0.375 measure of changing the area replacement ratio (m) should be taken in
0.50 the practical engineering for the unsaturated composite ground.
0
103 104 105 106 107
5.2. Consolidation behavior with different parameters of surrounding
t (s)
unsaturated soils
1
(b) In this section, the effect of the parameters of surrounding un-
0.8 saturated soils on the consolidation behavior of composite ground is
investigated by changing the values of K, m1sk and m2s . In analyzing the
uw/uw0 (-)

0.6 1
(a)
0.4 rw/re (-) 0.8
0.125
0.25

ua/ua 0 (-)
0.2 0.375 0.6
0.50

0 0.4
103 104 105 106 107 108 109 4
Ep (×10 kPa)
t (s) 1.5
0.2 7.5
0 15.0

0
0.2 103 104 105 106 107
t (s)

1
w* (-)

0.4 (b)
rw/re (-) 0.8
0.125
0.6 0.25
uw/uw0 (-)

0.375 0.6
0.50
(c)
0.8 0.4
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 Ep (×104kPa)
t (s) 1.5
0.2 7.5
Fig. 4. Change of the results at different ratios of rw/re for the consolidation of 15.0
the unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns: (a) ua/ ua0 , (b)
u w / u w0 , and (c) w . 0
103 104 105 106 107 108 109
t (s)
5.1.2. Constrained modulus of the pile Ep
Fig. 5(a), (b) and (c) demonstrate the variation of excess pore-air/ 0
water pressures and normalized settlement at different constrained (c)
moduli of a permeable column (Ep ) for the unsaturated composite 0.2
ground with permeable columns. As shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b), it is
observed that there are only little divergent dissipation processes of 0.4
w* (-)

excess pore-air and pore-water pressures with the different constrained

moduli of the permeable column (Ep ). All of them dissipate more
0.6
quickly, as a bigger constrained modulus is adopted. In this case, the Ep (×104kPa)
typical value of the constrained modulus (Ep ) is given as 7.5× 104 kPa. 1.5
When Ep increases to 36.5× 104 kPa (5 times higher) or 1.5× 104 kPa (5 0.8 7.5
times lower), about 30% reduction and 45% increase of the final set- 15.0
tlement can be observed, as shown in Fig. 5(c). 1
Similar to the reason for the consolidation behavior induced by 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
changing the ratio of rw/re, the change of the constrained modulus (Ep ) t (s)
in fact influences the stress distribution of composite ground on the Fig. 5. Change of the results at different constrained moduli of the permeable
permeable columns and surrounding unsaturated soils. Based on the column (Ep ) for the consolidation of the unsaturated composite ground with
equal strain assumption of the column and surrounding soils for permeable columns: (a) ua/ ua0 , (b) u w / u w0 , and (c) w .

10
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

effects of vertical-radial stress ratio (K), the vertical-radial stress ratio lower value of m2s leads to a slow dissipation in excess pore-water
(K) is adopted as 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5, other used parameters are adopted as pressure and postpones the end of the dissipation. In the first stage, a
the given values. Similarly, when we explore the effect of m1sk and m2s on high value of m2s (e.g., m2s = 0.564 × 10−4 kPa) can also leads to an
the results, the values of m1sk and m2s are changed to the half or double increase in pore-water pressure during dissipation process. Fig. 8(c)
of the given value while the other parameters needed in these cases are shows development of normalized settlement with the time at different
unchanged. m2s values. It seems that the change of the values of m2s only affects the
settlement curves at the end part of the consolidation. While, the
5.2.1. Vertical-radial stress ratio K change of the values of m1sk affects the entire the settlement curve (see
Fig. 6(a), (b) and (c) depict the change of excess pore-air/water Fig. 7(c)).
pressures and normalized settlement at different values of vertical-ra-
dial stress ratio (K) for the consolidation of unsaturated composite
6. Concluding remarks
ground with permeable columns. From Fig. 6(a) and (b), it can be ob-
served that there are close dissipation processes of excess pore-air and
This paper proposed the governing equations and corresponding
pore-water pressures for the decrease or increase of the vertical-radial
semi-analytical solutions for the consolidation problem of the un-
stress ratio (K). Meanwhile, the normalized settlement grows with dif-
saturated composite ground with permeable columns. The degraded
ferent vertical-radial stress ratios (K). Especially, the vertical-radial
equations and existing solutions for a special case are employed to
stress ratio (K) reduces or increases 50% of the given value, the final
verify the correctness of the consolidation equations and semi-analy-
settlement increases or reduces 15% on the contrary, as shown in
tical solutions. Then, a set of examples are performed to investigate the
Fig. 6(c).
The reason is that when the external vertical load is given, the radial 1
stress can be calculated on the basis of the definition of vertical-radial
(a)
stress ratios (K), and a larger vertical-radial stress ratio (K) will cause
0.8
smaller radial stress on the surrounding unsaturated soils. In addition,
referring to the axisymmetric consolidation behavior of unsaturated

ua/ua 0 (-)
soils (Ho et al., 2016), the radial dissipation for pore phases has a 0.6
dominant role in the consolidation of the unsaturated composite ground
with permeable columns. Thus, the growth of normalized settlement 0.4
develops along with the change of the radial stress of surrounding un- K (-)
saturated soils. 0.5
0.2 1.0
1.5
5.2.2. Coefficient of volume change m1sk
Fig. 7 shows the change of excess pore-air/water pressures and 0
103 104 105 106 107
normalized settlement at different values of m1sk (negative value) for the
t (s)
consolidation of the unsaturated composite ground with permeable
columns. As shown in Fig. 7(a), the dissipation processes of excess pore- 1
air pressure with different values of m1sk are close to each other. They (b)
almost begin and end at the same time. However, as shown in Fig. 7(b), 0.8
the dissipation process of excess pore-water pressure is more compli-
cated. It in general can be divided into two stages: (1) In the first stage,
uw/uw0 (-)

0.6
the dissipation of excess pore-water pressure is slower as the value of
decreases. When m1sk = 11.28 × 10−4 kPa, the dissipation curve of
excess pore-water pressure even uplifts slightly in this case (i.e., 0.4
Mandel-Cryer effect). (2) In the second stage, dissipation of excess pore- K (-)
0.5
water pressure becomes quicker as the value of m1sk decreases. For ex- 0.2 1.0
ample, when m1sk = 11.28 × 10−4 kPa, the dissipation curve shows 1.5
lowest dissipation rate in the first stage but the highest dissipation rate 0
in the second stage. Fig. 7(c) demonstrates the development of nor- 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
malized settlement with the time at different m1sk values. A lower value t (s)
of m1sk will result in fast growth of the normalized settlement, as shown 0
in Fig. 7(c). Comparing dissipation process of excess pore-air/water (c)
pressures with the development of the normalized settlement, it can be
concluded that the influence of m1sk on the normalized settlement is 0.2
predominately sourced from the influence m1sk on the dissipation of
excess pore-water pressure.
w* (-)

0.4
5.2.3. Coefficient of volume change m2s
Fig. 8 demonstrates the change of excess pore-air/water pressures K (-)
and normalized settlement at different values of m2s for the consolida- 0.6 0.5
1.0
tion of the unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns. As 1.5
shown in Fig. 8(a), it can be found that excess pore-air pressure dis-
sipates along the same curve even if the value of m2s (negative value) is 0.8
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
different. For dissipation of the excess pore-water pressure, as shown in t (s)
Fig. 8(b), two different dissipation stages can be observed which are
similar to the results presented in Fig. 7(b). A lower value in m2s Fig. 6. Change of the results at different values of vertical-radial stress ratio K
(e.g.m2s = 2.256 × 10−4 kPa) lead to a quicker dissipation rate of for the consolidation of the unsaturated composite ground with permeable
excess pore-water pressure at the first stage. But, in the second stage, a columns: (a) ua/ ua0 , (b) u w / u w0 , and (c) w .

11
L. Wang, et al. Computers and Geotechnics 125 (2020) 103706

1 1
(a) (a)
0.8 0.8

ua/ua 0 (-)
ua/ua 0 (-)

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4
s s
m1k (×10-4kPa) m2 (×10-4kPa)
-2.82 -0.564
0.2 -5.64 0.2 -1.128
-11.28 -2.256

0 0
103 104 105 106 107 103 104 105 106 107
t (s) t (s)

1 (b) 1 (b)

0.8 0.8

uw/uw0 (-)
uw/uw0 (-)

0.6 The first stage 0.6 The first stage

0.4 m1ks (×10-4kPa)

0.4 m2s (×10-4kPa)
-2.82 -0.564
0.2 -5.64 0.2 -1.128 The second stage
-11.28 The second stage -2.256

0 0
103 104 105 106 107 108 109 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
t (s) t (s)

0 0
(c) (c)

0.2 0.2

0.4 0.4
w* (-)
w* (-)

0.6 0.6
s s
m1k (×10-4kPa) m2 (×10-4kPa)
-2.82 -0.564
0.8 0.8 -1.128
-5.64
-11.28 -2.256

1 1
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109
t (s) t (s)

Fig. 7. Change of the results at different values of m1sk for the consolidation of Fig. 8. Change of the results at different values of m2s for the consolidation of
composite ground with permeable columns in unsaturated soils: (a) ua/ ua0 , (b) the unsaturated composite ground with permeable columns: (a) ua/ ua0 , (b)
u w / u w0 , and (c) w . u w / u w0 , and (c) w .

consolidation behavior. The conclusions of this study are as follows:
(1) Based on the stress and strain equilibrium condition of composite
ground and the stress–strain relationship of unsaturated soils, the
two consolidation equations of unsaturated composite ground with
permeable columns (one for air phase and the other for water
phase) are proposed by considering the continuity assumption and
flow laws of the air and water phases under axisymmetric condi-
tion.
(2) The semi-analytical solutions of the proposed consolidation equa-
tions are presented by applying the infinite Hankel and Laplace
transforms. There is a smooth transition between the proposed
consolidation equations and those of the axisymmetric consolida-
tion of unsaturated soils and the consolidation of saturated com-
posite ground with permeable columns. The comparisons with the
existing equations and solutions for a special case (Ho et al., 2016)
show that the proposed consolidation equations and corresponding
semi-analytical solutions are reliable and general.
(3) A larger value of the area replacement ratio (m) or the modulus of
the column (Ep) would result in a quicker dissipation rate of excess
pore-air/water pressures and a smaller normalized settlement.
Compared with the influences induced by the change of the area
replacement ratio (m) and modulus of the column (Ep), it is easier
and more meaningful for the improvement effect of the unsaturated
composite ground by changing the area replacement ratio (m) than
the modulus of the column (Ep). Additionally, the reinforcement
effect of permeable columns on the composite ground is of great
significance, the settlement of unsaturated composite ground with
permeable columns is 60% of that of the axisymmetric consolida-
tion of unsaturated soils.
(4) The change of the parameters of unsaturated surrounding soils has
little impact on the dissipation of excess pore-air pressure, and the
dissipation of excess pore-water pressure plays a dominant role in
the growth of the normalized settlement. A faster dissipation of the
excess pore-water pressure and a lower normalized settlement
corresponds to a higher value of m1sk or m2s . While the higher value

12
L. Wang, et al.
of the vertical-radial stress ratio (K) results in a slower dissipation
of the excess pore-water pressure and a higher normalized settle-
ment.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Lei Wang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis,
Investigation, Visualization, Writing - original draft. Annan Zhou:
Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Supervision, Writing -
review & editing. Yongfu Xu: Investigation, Supervision, Writing - re-
view & editing. Xiaohe Xia: Investigation, Supervision, Writing - re-
view & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
Appendix A
Given a function F(s) defined for complex values of s, the routine estimates values of its inverse Laplace transform by Crump’s method (Crump,
1976). Crump’s method applies the epsilon algorithm to the summation in Durbin’s Fourier series approximation (Durbin, 1974)
e tj 1 k i k tj k i
f (t j ) F (a ) Re F a + cos Im F a +
2 k=1
In this study, the method for taking values of parameters is explained as follows:
(i) = t fac × max (0.01, t j ) , where t fac = 0.8;
ln (0.1 × E )
(ii) a = b 2
r
, where b should be specified equal to, or slightly larger than the value of , and Er is the required relative error in the values
of the inverse Laplace transform, thus Er must be in the range 0 Er < 1.0 ;
(iii) The values of tj, for j = 1, 2, …, n, must be supplied in monotonically increasing order, and the values of the inverse function f(tj) can be
calculated in decreasing order of j.
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