Unsaturated Consolidation in a Sand Drain Foundation by Differential Quadrature Method

Axisymmetric consolidation in a sand drain foundation is a common problem in foundation engineering. The radial consolidation in unsaturated soils is studied on the basis of the framework of Fredlund's one dimensional consolidation theory. Then differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to obtain the solution. Finally, the average degree of consolidation for the water and air, variation of excess pore-water pressure at different radius with time factor are presented. It is found that the solutions of DQM are accurate and stable. DQM is easy to compile computer programs when considering uniform initial pore-water distribution condition. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Society for Resources, Environment and Engineering.