38 CONTE AND TRONCONE

the excess pore water pressure, which depends on both z and kept at unity at z ¼ 0 and t . 0. To derive this latter, the
t; and cvs is the coefficient of swelling or consolidation of following relation can be considered:
the soil, which is assumed to be constant during the process. uð z, tÞ ¼ U ð z, tÞ þ Y ð zÞ (6)
Although in many cases this assumption represents a limita-
tion for the use of equation (1), it is often accepted in where the functions Y and U satisfy the equations
practice (Leroueil, 2001). This occurs, for example, when
d2 Y
there is a lack of precise measurements or sampling uncer- ¼ 0 for 0 , z , H (7)
tainty as well as in the presence of soil deposits with dz 2
developed macrofabric features, such as layers and seams of Y ¼ 1 at z ¼ 0 (8)
more permeable materials or discontinuities. In these cases, Y ¼ 0 at z ¼ H (9)
cvs is considered as an operative parameter to use for
predicting the overall response of the soil deposit. and
To achieve a simple solution to equation (1), a soil layer
@2 U @ U
of thickness H is considered (Fig. 2). First, it is assumed cvs ¼ for 0 , z , H, t . 0 (10)
that the lower surface of this layer is fully permeable (Fig. @z 2 @t
2(a)): that is, U ¼ 0 at z ¼ 0 and z ¼ H, t . 0 (11)
U ¼
Y at t ¼ 0, 0 < z < H (12)
uð H, tÞ ¼ 0 for t . 0 (2)
Moreover, for the purposes of the present study, it is Deriving equation (7) with the spatial boundary conditions
assumed that the excess pore pressure at the upper surface in equations (8) and (9) yields
of the layer varies harmonically with time according to the z
Y ð zÞ ¼ 1
(13)
equation H

uð0, tÞ ¼ A cosðøtÞ þ B sinðøtÞ for t . 0 (3) At the same time, the solution to equation (10) with the
boundary and initial conditions in equations (11) and (12)
where A and B are the excess pore pressure amplitudes, and can be derived using a mathematical procedure similar to
ø is the circular frequency, which is related to the period T that developed by Taylor (1948) to achieve the solution to
of the function considered by the well-known expression Terzaghi’s classical theory. The resulting equation takes the
ø ¼ 2
=T . Moreover, the initial condition is form
uð z, 0Þ ¼ 0 for 0 , z , H (4) 2X 1
1 2
U ð z, tÞ ¼
sinðº n zÞe
º n cvs t (14)
The solution to equation (1) with the above boundary and
n¼1 n
initial conditions can be achieved using Duhamel’s theorem
(Carslaw & Jaeger, 1959), which, for the case under con- where º n ¼ n
= H. Consequently, equation (6) yields
sideration, leads to the equation z 2X1
1 2
ðt uð z, tÞ ¼ 1

sin ðº n zÞe
º n cvs t (15)
@uð z, t
Þ H
n¼1 n
uð z, tÞ ¼ uð0, Þ d (5)
0 @t
Finally, by substituting  for t in equation (3) and t
 for t
in equation (15), and performing the partial derivative of
where u(0, t ) is provided by equation (3), and u(z, t)
u (z, t
) with respect to t, equation (5) leads to the sought
denotes the solution to equations (1), (2) and (4) when u is
solution, which allows the excess pore pressure induced by
the harmonic function described by equation (3) to be
u
calculated at any time and depth. This solution is here
indicated as uø (z,t ) and is expressed by the equation
t

z X1
MŁ Mz
uø ð z, tÞ ¼ 2 Y
2 4 n
sin (16)
H n¼1 1 þ Ł M H

where
M ¼ n
(16a)
Pervious 2
M 2 Tv
Y n ¼f(B
AŁM )[e
cos(øt)]
(a)
þ (A þ BŁM 2 ) sin(øt)g (16b)
cvs
u Ł¼ (16c)
t
øH2
z cvs t
Tv ¼ 2 (16d)
H H
with Tv denoting the time factor of Terzaghi’s theory. In
addition, taking advantage of this solution, a simple expres-
sion can be readily derived to evaluate the vertical displace-
ment at the upper surface of the soil layer as a function of
Impervious
time, wø (t ). Under the assumptions that the coefficient of
(b)
volume change of the soil skeleton mv is a constant para-
Fig. 2. Soil layers subjected to harmonic variations of pore meter, and the changes in total stress may be ignored (such
pressure with time at the upper surface: (a) layer with pervious as those due to changes in the soil unit weight), this expres-
base; (b) layer with impervious base sion takes the form