Analytical and Numerical Modeling of Consolidation

by Vertical Drain beneath a Circular Embankment

Buddhima Indraratna, Ph.D., F.ASCE1; Ala Aljorany, Ph.D.2; and Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, Ph.D.3
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Abstract: In the analysis of axisymmetric problems, it is often imperative that aspects of geometry, material properties, and loading
characteristics are either maintained as constants or represented by continuous functions in the circumferential direction. In the case of
radial consolidation beneath a circular embankment by vertical drains 共i.e., circular oil tanks or silos兲, the discrete system of vertical drains
can be substituted by continuous concentric rings of equivalent drain walls. An equivalent value for the coefficient of permeability of the
soil is obtained by matching the degree of consolidation of a unit cell model. A rigorous solution to the continuity equation of radial
drainage towards cylindrical drain walls is presented and verified by comparing its results with the existing unit cell model. The proposed
model is then adopted to analyze the consolidation process by vertical drains at the Skå-Edeby circular test embankment 共Area II兲. The
calculated values of settlement, lateral displacement, and excess pore-water pressure indicate good agreement with the field
measurements.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1532-3641共2008兲8:3共199兲
CE Database subject headings: Numerical models; Finite element method; Soil consolidation; Drainage; Sand; Embankment.

Introduction
Uh = 1 − exp − 冉 冊 8Th
␮
共1a兲
Installation of vertical drains is one of the most widely used tech-
niques for improving the engineering characteristics of soft clays. In the above equation
The main function of vertical drain application is to accelerate ch . t
soil consolidation by shortening the drainage path and activating Th = 共1b兲
radial drainage, thereby increasing the shear strength of the soil d2e

while reducing its postconstruction settlement 共Holtz et al. 1991兲.
The dissipation of excess pore-water pressure occurs faster in the
radial direction due to the greater coefficient of soil permeability
in the horizontal direction and the reduced drainage path. The
consolidation time can be reduced to achieve a required degree of
consolidation by selecting a suitable drain spacing and an appro-
priate installation pattern 共Jamiolkowski et al. 1983兲.
The theoretical solution of radial drainage consolidation was
first proposed by Barron 共1948兲 based on a unit cell 共i.e., single
drain surrounding by a soil cylinder兲. Further studies on the unit
cell consolidation were conducted by Yoshikuni and Nakanodo
共1974兲 and Hansbo 共1981兲 which lead to the following well-
known equation:
1 and ks⫽coefficients of horizontal permeability in the smear zone
Professor of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. of
Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522, Australia 共corresponding
author兲. E-mail: indra@uow.edu.au
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Baghdad,
Iraq; presently, Endeavour Research Fellow 共DEST兲, Civil Engineering
Division, Faculty of Engineering, Univ. of Wollongong, Wollongong City,
NSW 2522, Australia.
3
Research Associate, Civil Engineering Division, Faculty of
Engineering, Univ. of Wollongong, Wollongong City, NSW 2522,
Australia.
Note. Discussion open until November 1, 2008. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on July 20, 2007; approved on October 9, 2007. This
paper is part of the International Journal of Geomechanics, Vol. 8, No.
3, June 1, 2008. ©ASCE, ISSN 1532-3641/2008/3-199–206/$25.00.
冉冊 冉 冊 冉 冊
n kh kh
␮ = ln + ln共s兲 − 0.75 + ␲共2lz − z2兲 共1c兲
s ks qw
n = 共de/dw兲 共1d兲
s = 共ds/dw兲 共1e兲
where Uh⫽average degree of lateral consolidation; Th⫽time fac-
tor; ch⫽coefficient of consolidation in radial direction; t⫽time;
de⫽diameter of soil cylinder; ␮⫽factor accounting for smear
and well resistance; dw⫽equivalent diameter of the drain; ds⫽dia-
meter of smear zone; l⫽drain length; qw⫽discharge capacity of
the drain; z⫽depth of horizontal plane under consideration; and kh
and undisturbed zone, respectively.
The unit cell analysis is accurate when applied at the embank-
ment centerline where the lateral displacements are zero. In
practice, the subsoil in which hundreds of drains are installed is
usually not uniform, and the process of consolidation is not al-
ways a one-dimensional problem 共Indraratna et al. 1992兲. The
numerical techniques including the finite-element method 共FEM兲
are essential for the analysis and design of multidrain systems,
apart from the effect of variability in soil properties at a site 共Hird
et al. 1992; Indraratna and Redana 2000; Chai et al. 2001;
Indraratna et al. 2005兲. Various studies including Olson 共1998兲
have indicated that conducting a finite-element analysis for
multidrains is often time consuming, and that it is related to the
convergence of a solution that inevitably requires large computer
memory and a large number of iterations. However, the complex-

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 Fig. 2. Conversion for multidrain system under circular loading
adopted for analytical solutions: 共a兲 actual field condition; 共b兲
equivalent axisymmetric condition
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tion, each drain element should behave as a part of the concentric

cylindrical drain wall with an increasing perimeter with the radial
distance from the centerline 共Fig. 2兲. Fig. 3 shows a concept of
Fig. 1. Embankment vertical cross section and locations of cylindrical soil-drain wall.
instrumentation at Skå-Edeby, Sweden 共adapted from Hansbo 1960兲 The main assumptions made in the writers’ analysis are sum-
marized below:
1. Equal strain assumption 共small strain兲 and Darcy’s law are
ity of the multidrain three-dimensional 共3D兲 problem can be valid;
reduced to an equivalent two-dimensional 共2D兲 situation by trans- 2. Only vertical strains are allowed;
forming the in situ 共3D兲 soil parameters into equivalent 2D pa- 3. The soil is fully saturated, and the permeability of the soil is
rameters or making other simplifications. For example, Hird et al. assumed to be constant during consolidation;
共1992兲 employed a one-dimensional drainage element to simulate 4. Well resistance is neglected due to the sufficient discharge
a vertical drain. Chai et al. 共2001兲 presented a simple approxima-
tion method by which the unit cell can be modeled as a soil with
an equivalent vertical permeability. Indraratna and Redana 共2000兲
presented a plane strain 共2D兲 model that takes into account the
effect of smear and well resistance.
It can be noted that most of the previous studies have been
devoted to model multidrain systems for embankment strip load-
ing 共plane strain兲. So far, no study has been conducted to model
soil consolidation via vertical drains beneath a circular loaded
area, where the system conforms to an axisymmetric problem.
In this study, the consolidation process accelerated by vertical
drains below a circular embankment is analyzed using the finite-
element method. An equivalent axisymmetric solution for con-
centric rings of vertical drains is obtained and validated using a
numerical scheme and its results with the Hansbo 共1997兲 unit cell
model. The FEM code ABAQUS is then used to analyze the
performance of a full-scale test embankment constructed at
Skå-Edeby, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. The numerical predic-
tions are compared with the available field data.

Mathematical Formulation

Vertical drains are generally installed either as an equilateral tri-

angular, square, or circular arc pattern. The circular arc installa-
tion pattern with each arc at the design spacing can be used with
a large crane. It is noted that the square pattern can be easily
controlled in the field, although the triangular pattern gives more
uniform settlement than the square one 共Rixner et al. 1986兲.
Fig. 1 shows a plan view and vertical cross section of a typical
vertical drain installation pattern including some field instrumen-
tation beneath a circular embankment at Skå-Edeby 共Hansbo
1960兲. While the consolidation of soil around an individual ver-
tical drain can be readily analyzed as a single unit cell, in order
to analyze a multidrain system under an axisymmetric condition,
one must determine the equivalent soil parameters that give the Fig. 3. 共a兲 Multidrain system under axisymmetric condition; 共b兲
same time-settlement response in the field. In such a transforma- single hollow cylinder of soil-drain

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Int. J. Geomech. 2008.8:199-206.

 capacity of the drain, thereby the pore pressure at the drain
interface is assumed to be zero;
5. Each set of vertical drains located at the same radial dis-
tance from the line of axisymmetric is modeled as a con-
tinuous cylindrical drain wall of radius 共ri = i . S兲 where S
is the spacing of the drains and i is the number of that set
共i = 1 , 2 , 3 . . . 兲 as shown in Fig. 3. For 共i ⬎ 1兲, each cylindrical
drain wall lies in the middle of a revolving prism of soil
which has a thickness of S;
6. It is assumed that the cylindrical drain wall has a negligible
thickness; and
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Table 1. Relationship of i and ␮ring / ␣2
␫ ␮ring / ␣2
1 0.691978
2 0.672935
3 0.669448
4 0.668230
5 0.667667
6 0.667361
7 0.667177
8 0.667057

7. Across the inner and outer boundary of each revolving prism 9 0.666975
of soil 共Fig. 3兲, no flow is allowed, and for relatively long 10 0.666917
vertical drains, only radial 共horizontal兲 flow is permitted. 11 0.666873
12 0.666840
Development of Mathematical Formulation 13 0.666815
14 0.666794
Considering the inner hollow cylindrical soil wall 共ri − S / 2 ⱕ r
15 0.666778
ⱕ ri兲, the flow rate in the radial direction from the inner imper-
meable boundary to the hollow cylindrical drain wall is expressed 16 0.666764
by Darcy’s law 17 0.666753
18 0.666744
⳵ Q kh ⳵ u 19 0.666736
= A 共2兲
⳵ t ␥w ⳵ r 20 0.666729

where Q⫽flow in the soil mass; u⫽excess pore pressure due to

preloading; and A⫽cross-sectional area of the flow at distance r
that is equal to 2␲r共dz兲. ūring␲共共ri + S/2兲2 − 共ri − S/2兲2兲l
The rate of volume change in the vertical direction of the soil
冕冕 冕冕
l ri l ri+S/2
mass is expressed by = 2␲uAr dr dz + 2␲uBr dr dz 共8兲
0 ri−S/2 0 ri
⳵V ⳵␧
= ␲共共ri − S/2兲2 − r2兲dz 共3兲 Integrating Eq. 共8兲 after substituting Eqs. 共6兲 and 共7兲, the average
⳵t ⳵t excess pore pressure is given by
where V⫽volume of the soil mass; and ␧⫽vertical strain.
The radial flow rate is assumed to be equal to the rate of ␥w ⳵ ␧ 1 2
ūring = d ␮ring 共9a兲
volume change of the soil mass in the vertical direction, therefore kh ⳵ t 8 e

kh ⳵ u ⳵␧ where
2␲r共dz兲 = ␲共共ri − S/2兲2 − r2兲dz 共4兲

冤 冥
␥w ⳵ r ⳵t i 1
2共i − 0.5兲4 ln + 共2i − 0.5兲共− 2i2 + 3i − 0.75兲+
The excess pore pressure gradient can be derived by rearranging ␣2 i − 0.5 4

冉 冊
␮ring =
Eq. 共4兲 as i i + 0.5 1
2共i + 0.5兲4 ln − 共2i + 0.5兲共2i2 + 3i + 0.75兲
i 4
⳵ u ␥w ⳵ ␧ 共共ri − S/2兲 − r 兲
2 2
= for ri − S/2 ⱕ r ⱕ ri 共5兲 2␣2
⳵ r 2kh ⳵ t r ⬇ 共9b兲
3
Integrating Eq. 共5兲 in the radial direction with the boundary con-
dition 共u = 0 at r = ri兲, the distribution of excess pore pressure u in
S = ␣de 共9c兲
Zone A 共ri − S / 2 ⱕ r ⱕ ri兲 can be expressed by
␣ = 0.887 and 0.952 for drains installed in a square pattern and an
uA =
␥w ⳵ ␧
2kh ⳵ t
冉
共ri − S/2兲2 ln
r
冉冊
ri
1
− 共r2 − r2i 兲
2
冊 for ri − S/2 ⱕ r ⱕ ri
equilateral triangular pattern, respectively 共Holtz et al. 1991兲.
It is of interest to note that the value of ␮ring converges to
2␣2 / 3 for all values of 共i ⬎ 1兲 共Table 1兲.
共6兲
Combining Eq. 共9兲 with the well-known compressibility rela-
Similarly, excess pore pressure u in Zone B 共ri ⱕ r ⱕ ri + S / 2兲 is tionship 共⳵␧ / ⳵t = −mv ⳵ ū / ⳵t兲 yields
determined by
␥w ⳵ ū 1 2
uB =
␥w ⳵ ␧
2kh ⳵ t
冉
共ri + S/2兲2 ln
r
冉冊
ri
1
− 共r2 − r2i 兲
2
冊 for ri ⱕ r ⱕ ri + S/2
ūring = −
kh
mv d ␮ring
⳵t 8 e
共10兲

Rearranging the above Eq. 共10兲 and then integrating by apply-

共7兲 ing the initial boundary condition ū = ␴1 at t = 0 gives

冉 冊
It is noted that subscripts A and B are denoted for Zones A and B,
respectively, and subscript ‘ring’ is denoted for circular loading. ūring − 8Th,ring
= exp 共11兲
The average excess pore pressure 共ū兲 is determined from ␴1 ␮ring

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Int. J. Geomech. 2008.8:199-206.

 Uh,ring = 1 − exp 冉 − 8Th,ring
␮ring
冊 共12兲

Equivalent Parameters for Multidrain Analysis under

2D Axisymmetric Condition
Equivalent parameters can be determined either by geometric
transformation or permeability transformation or both to mini-
mize the disparity between the two methods 共Indraratna and Re-
dana 2000兲. For circular loading, the proposed “conversion”
procedures can be based on the equivalent average excess pore
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pressure by maintaining the geometric equivalence 共see Fig. 3兲.

At a given stress level and at each time step, the average
excess pore pressure for both the unit cell and a unit of ith re-
volving prism of soil 共i ⬎ 1兲 are made the same by equating Eq.
共1兲 with Eq. 共12兲. The equivalent permeability for the multidrain
underaxisymmetric condition can then be expressed as

2 2
␣
kh,ring 3

冋冉冊 册
= 共13兲
kh n kh 3
ln + ln共s兲 −
s ks 4

Model Validation
Finite-element program ABAQUS 共Hibbitt et al. 2006兲 based on
Biot’s consolidation theory was used with assumed soil properties
to validate the proposed analytical solution. An elastic analysis
was conducted with mv = 10−3 m2 / kN and simulating the condi-
tion of no lateral strain 共␯ = 0兲 for validating the proposed solution
关Eq. 共11兲兴. A total of 3,200 axisymmetric elements 共eight-node
biquadratic displacement and bilinear pore pressure兲 were used in
the finite-element model to simulate a 10 m long vertical drain
with a spacing of 1.5 m 关Figs. 4共a and b兲兴. A ch value of
0.32 m2 / year and de of 1.575 m 共i.e., equivalent to S = 1.5 m
for triangular drain pattern兲 were used. The aspect ratio of
the finite elements was kept below three. The horizontal undis-
turbed soil permeability 共kh兲 was taken as 10−10 m / s, and the ratio
of the undisturbed permeability to the smear zone permeability
共kh / ks兲 and the value of 共ds / dw兲 ratio were assumed to be 4.0 and
2.0, respectively. The top, bottom, and outer boundaries were set
as impermeable 关see Fig. 4共b兲兴. The vertical loading pressure
共␴1 = 50 kPa兲 was applied at the top of the cell, and only vertical
displacement was allowed. Rigid elements were selected at the
soil surface to ensure the equal strain condition.
Fig. 5 shows a comparison between the analytical and numeri-
cal models before and after conversion for i = 2 and 15. It can be
seen from Eq. 共11兲 that the degree of consolidation of a particular
soil-drain wall does not depend on the value of i, hence, for the
purpose of clarity, the numerical results for i = 2 and 15 are com-
pared separately in Figs. 5共a and b兲. Before incorporating the
equivalent soil permeability from Eq. 共11兲, a good agreement
between the numerical and analytical results was obtained by
Eq. 共13兲. Small deviations are noted for the range 300⬍ t
⬍ 1,000 days with a maximum error of about 5% in the degree of
consolidation. It can be seen after incorporating Eq. 共13兲 in the
numerical model, that the consolidation response agrees with
Eq. 共1兲. In general, the above matching procedure confirms the
reliability of the proposed procedure after transforming the true
field condition to the equivalent axisymmetric drain rings.
Fig. 4. 共a兲 Nodes and integration points for single eight-node
biquadratic displacement, bilinear pore pressure axisymmetric
element; 共b兲 mesh discretization for single hollow cylinder of
soil-drain 共not to scale兲
Application to Case History
In 1957, the Swedish Geotechnical Institute and the Swedish
Road Board designed and constructed four circular test embank-
ments to study consolidation behavior of the soft clay and to
obtain information for construction of a new airport 共Hansbo
1960兲. The site is located on an island about 25 km west of Stock-
holm, Sweden. Sand drains were installed at three of these test
embankments. This study deals with circular test embankment
共Area II兲 which was constructed between June and July 1957,
with a base diameter of 35 m, a slope of 1.5H : 1V, and height of
1.5 m. Gravel of unit weight of 17.9 kN/ m3 was used as the
embankment surcharge after removing 0.25 m of the top soil.
Sand drains of 0.18 m diameter were installed in a triangular
pattern at a spacing of 1.5 m. The water table was located 1.0 m
below the ground surface. The settlement plates, piezometers, and
horizontal settlement gauges were installed to measure the verti-
cal displacement, pore-water pressure, and lateral displacements,
respectively. The locations of the instrumentations were shown
earlier in Fig. 1.
Site Geology and Geotechnical Properties
The site geology and geotechnical properties of soil were de-
scribed in detail by Hansbo 共1960兲 and have been presented in
several publications 共Holtz and Broms 1972; Hansbo 2005兲. Only
a summary is given here. The geologic stratification of the site
area can be described as composed of very recent glacial and
postglacial clay deposits. The ground surface is about 2.5 m
above the mean level of the Baltic Sea. The deepest sediments

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Fig. 5. Comparison of analytical model with equivalent model before and after conversion: 共a兲 i = 2; 共b兲 i = 15

consist of glacial clays, which are about 7,500 years old while the
upper postglacial soils were deposited within the past 4,500 years.
In general, these deposits can be described as soft, normally con-
solidated clay of moderate sensitivity. Site investigations showed
that the subsoil conditions are relatively uniform throughout the
site, consisting of a weathered crust formed by a cyclic wetting
process together with natural cementation with a total thickness of
1 m, overlying the soft clay layer extending to about 8 – 10 m
below the surface, followed by bedrock or very dense glacial
deposits at a depth of 10– 12 m. The groundwater table is about
1 m below the ground surface. The bulk unit weight generally
increased from 15 kN/ m3 near the ground surface to 17 kN/ m3 at
the bottom of the soil profile. The compression and consolidation
characteristics of the clay were determined using a conventional
oedometer test.
As shown in Fig. 1, surface and subsurface settlement plates,
hydraulic piezometers, a concrete block, and inclinometer were
installed to monitor the embankment behavior. However, due to
mulfunction of the inclinometer, only the surface lateral displace-
ment measured by the concrete block is available 共Holtz and
Broms 1972兲.
ment was simulated to exploit the symmetry. The relevant soil
parameters of four subsoil layers are summarized in Table 2 based
on the laboratory test results provided by Hansbo 共1960兲. For the
topmost overconsolidated crust, the Mohr–Coulomb model was
considered appropriate. Based on Hansbo 共1997兲, it was assumed
that the diameter of the smear zone 共ds兲 was 0.36 m and that both
the permeability of the smear zone 共ks兲 and the vertical soil
permeability 共kv兲 are 0.25 times the horizontal undisturbed soil
permeability 共kh兲. The well resistance is neglected in the analysis
due to sufficient drainage capacity of the drains ⬎150 m3 / year.
For the multidrain analysis, the permeability of soil for each layer
under the circular embankment loading was calculated based on
Eq. 共13兲. Embankment surcharge loading of 27 kPa was simu-
lated by applying linearly incremental vertical loads to the upper
boundary for 30 days, followed by the rest period.

Finite-Element Analysis of Circular Embankment

The finite-element mesh consisted of 28,160 rectangular
CAX8RP elements 共eight-node biquadratic displacement, bilinear
pore pressure兲 as shown in Fig. 6. Only one half of the embank- Fig. 6. Finite-element mesh

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Int. J. Geomech. 2008.8:199-206.

 Table 2. Soil Properties Used in Analysis Adapted from Hansbo 共1960兲
Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 Layer 4
Depth 共m兲 0.00–1.00 1.00–3.00 3.00–6.00 6.00–11.00
Unit weight 14.2 14.5 15.6 16
共kN/ m3兲
Preconsolidation 27 24 35 48
pressure 共kPa兲
kv and ks 共m/year兲 0.0075 0.0064 0.005 0.008
kh 共m/year兲 0.03 0.026 0.02 0.032
kh,ring 共m/year兲 0.00289 0.002505 0.001927 0.003083
关Eq. 共13兲兴
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␭ — 0.93 1.55 1.54

␬ — 0.093 0.155 0.154
Undrained shear — 12 8 10
strength 共kPa兲
c⬘ 共kPa兲 30 — — —
␾⬘ 30 — — —
E 共MPa兲 2.7 — — —

Fig. 8. Excess pore pressure: 共a兲 at 5 m depth and 0.75 m from

centerline; 共b兲 at 5 m depth and 10 m away from centerline

Fig. 7. Settlements: 共a兲 surface at centerline; 共b兲 5 m depth at
centerline; and 共c兲 1.5 m depth at 7 m away from centerline
Discussion of Results
In this section, the predictions based on the multidrain analysis
under both axisymmetric and plane strain conditions are com-
pared with the field measurements. Eq. 共13兲 was incorporated in
the axisymmetric condition, whereas the equivalent plane strain
approach proposed by Indraratna and Redana 共2000兲 was adopted
for the plane strain condition. Figs. 7共a and b兲 show a compari-
son between the predicted and recorded field settlements: 共a兲 at
the centerline of the embankment at the ground surface; 共b兲 at a
depth of 5 m; and 共c兲 at a depth of 1.5 and 7 m away from the
embankment centerline. It can be seen that the predicted settle-
ments from the axisymmetric conditions using Eq. 共13兲 agree
with the measured results as well as with those predicted by
Hansbo 共1997兲, whereas the plane strain analysis underpredicts
the field results but gives the same ultimate settlement. Undoubt-
edly, the excess pore pressure predictions from both cases at 5 m
depth and at a lateral distance of 0.75 m away from the em-
bankment centerline also agree with the field measurements
关Fig. 8共a兲兴. However, the predicted excess pore pressures from the
plane strain analysis dissipate faster than that under axisymmetric
conditions 关Fig. 8共b兲兴. Fig. 9 illustrates the surface settlement pro-
file after 452 days, which shows that plane strain condition gives
less settlement at the centerline and more heave at the embank-
ment toe.
The comparisons between the measured and predicted lateral
movements at 1.5 m from the embankment toe are shown in
Fig. 10. The predictions from the axisymmetric condition agree
well with the measured results, whereas the plane strain analysis
overpredicts the measurements 关Fig. 10共a兲兴. Due to insufficient
field data, only the predicted lateral displacements are compared
in Fig. 10共b兲. The maximum lateral displacement is observed at
the middle of the soft clay layer at a depth of 6 m 关Fig. 10共b兲兴.
The lateral displacement profiles at the ground surface are shown

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Fig. 9. Surface settlement profile after 452 days
in Fig. 11. It is seen that the predictions from the axisymmetric
condition are always less than those of the plane strain. In gen-
eral, for a circular embankment improved by vertical drains, the
axisymmetric analysis with an appropriate conversion procedure
is essential to obtain accurate predictions, in terms of settlement,
excess pore pressure, and lateral displacement.
Conclusions
The paper presented a new technique to model consolidation by
vertical drains below a circular loaded area where the system of
vertical drains in the field was transformed by a series of equiva-
lent concentric cylindrical drain walls. A rigorous solution for
Fig. 10. 共a兲 Lateral displacements at surface at 1.5 m from
embankment edge; 共b兲 lateral displacement profile at 1.5 m from
embankment edge after 300 days
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Int. J. Geomech. 2008.8:199-206.
Fig. 11. Lateral displacement profiles at surface after 250 days
radial drainage towards these equivalent walls was derived by
matching the degree of consolidation of Hansbo’s unit cell model
共Hansbo 1997兲. An equivalent value for the coefficient of hori-
zontal permeability could be obtained to analyze the multidrain
problem under circular loading.
A multidrain analysis based on the proposed conversion was
adopted to evaluate the performance of a selected full-scale cir-
cular embankment at Skå-Edeby, Sweden, using the finite-
element code, ABAQUS. The effect of smear associated with the
sand drains was also considered in the analysis. Unlike unit cell
analysis, the settlements, excess pore-water pressures, and lateral
movements elsewhere in the embankment were analyzed and
compared with the available field data by employing the proposed
conversion procedure. Comparisons made with the corresponding
predictions using the proposed conversion and Hansbo’s solution
showed that the predicted results from proposed conversion are
more accurate than those from Hansbo’s solution apart from the
centerline of the embankment. The multidrain analysis under
equivalent axisymmetric condition using the proposed conversion
gives more accurate prediction, whereas the equivalent plane
strain FEM analysis tends to underpredict settlements and excess
pore pressure by approximately 20%. Moreover, lateral displace-
ment prediction under plane strain condition is almost two times
that from the axisymmetric condition. The predictions of soft soil
improved by vertical drains under circular loading are more ac-
curate when using multidrain analysis under equivalent axisym-
metric condition.
Acknowledgments
The second writer gratefully acknowledges financial support
under the Endeavour program, Department of Educational, Sci-
ence and Training, Australia.
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