40 CONTE AND TRONCONE

X
1 2
wð tÞ ¼ w0 ð tÞ þ w k ð tÞ (27)
k¼1 1
where w k (t ) is obtained by equation (17) or (21), in which

u/umax
wø (t ) is replaced by w k (t ), A and B are replaced by A k and 0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5
B k respectively, and ø is replaced by ø k . In addition, w0 (t )
can be calculated by the equation ⫺1
( )
A0 1 2 X 1
1  n 
n2
2 T
w0 ð tÞ ¼
mv H þ ð
1Þ
1 e v
⫺2
2 2
2 n¼1 n2 t/T
(a)
(28)
1.0
or
" #
A0 8 X
1
1
ð2 n
1Þ2
2 Tv =4
0·5
w0 ð tÞ ¼
mv H 1
2 e
2
n¼1 ð2 n
1Þ2

u/umax
0
(29) 0 0·5 1·0 1·5

depending on whether the layer base is considered pervious ⫺0·5

Measured
or impervious respectively. It is relevant to note that when a Calculated
cyclic pore pressure loading is imposed at the boundary, a ⫺1.0
more appropriate approach to evaluating w(t ) is to incorpo- t/T
rate equation (26) into a practical method (Baligh & Leva- (b)
doux, 1978; Galati, 2001) which, although approximate, 1.0
accounts for the irrecoverable strains accumulated gradually
by the soil. 0·5
u/umax

ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In this section, the proposed solution is employed to
analyse the experimental results from laboratory tests and
field measurements documented in the literature. The pri-
mary objective of this analysis is to assess the capability of
the solution of capturing the main features of the real
response of soil layers to pore pressure variations at the
boundary, and of providing representative values of the coef-
ficient of swelling/consolidation, whose evaluation is not
generally a simple operation, especially in in situ conditions
(Leroueil, 2001). In the cases analysed, the observed values
of pore pressure were relatively low, therefore it is reason-
able to expect that significant non-linear effects did not
occur.
As a first example, the laboratory test results presented by
Cavalera (1977) are considered. The tests were carried out
on samples of two overconsolidated clays denoted as Todi
clay and Trebisacce clay. The coefficients of consolidation
of these soils obtained from oedometer tests in the conven-
tional way were 2 3 10
7 m2 /s and 1 3 10
7 m2 /s respec-
tively (Cavalera, 1977). The author designed a testing
apparatus consisting of three triaxial cells arranged in series.
The top of each cell was hydraulically connected to the base
of the next one by a drainage tube equipped with a
transducer to measure pore water pressure. Water flow in the
soil samples occurred in the vertical direction, and lateral
strain was restricted by the applied radial pressure. Therefore
it may be assumed that the experiments simulated a one-
dimensional consolidation process developing in a soil layer
whose thickness is equivalent to the sum of the thicknesses
of the three specimens in series, which was 216 mm
(Cavalera, 1977). The water pressure exerted at the surface
of this soil system was described by a cyclic square function
with intensity umax ¼ 50 kPa and period T ¼ 48 h. During
the tests, the base of the layer was maintained either
impervious or pervious. Figs 4 and 5 show the excess pore
pressures measured during two tests at different depths when
steady periodic conditions were established. In the same
figures, the results calculated using the proposed procedure,
along with the values of c vs that provided the best agreement
between simulation and observation, are also presented.
0
0 0·5 1·0 1·5
⫺0·5 Measured
Calculated
⫺1.0
t/T
(c)
Fig. 4. Calculated and measured excess pore pressures at
different depths of a Todi clay sample with pervious base
(adapted from Cavalera, 1977): (a) z/H 0; (b) z/H 1
3;
2
(c) z/H 3
Because the pore pressure variations at the boundary are
expressed by an odd function of time, a Fourier sine series
whose amplitudes B k were provided by equation (24) was
employed to describe this boundary condition. A good
agreement can be observed between experimental and theor-
etical curves. Moreover, the value of cvs back-calculated
from the experimental results using the present solution was
1 3 10
7 m2 /s for both Todi clay and Trebisacce clay. This
is similar to the values of cvs deduced from the oedometer
tests, although these latter were conducted under very differ-
ent loading conditions from Cavalera’s tests. One explanation
of this could be that the excess pore pressures imposed at
the boundary were relatively low, and the soils were over-
consolidated. Thus it is reasonable to expect that the soil
response during both tests remained within the overconsoli-
dated domain of the soil, where cvs may be considered in
practice as a constant parameter (Leroueil, 2001).
Another case examined in this study refers to a soil
deposit sited at Maskinongé in Canada, where several piezo-
meters were installed at different depths to observe the
seasonal fluctuations of pore water pressure (Demers et al.,
1999). In particular, three open-pipe piezometers were in-
stalled on a flat area about 12 m behind the crest of a slope,
with the measuring sections located at depths of 3 m, 8 m
and 17 m from the ground surface respectively. The pore
pressure measurements were carried out for a period of over
five years, from November 1990 to January 1996 (Fig. 6).
As can be observed from Fig. 6, the seasonal fluctuations of