The settlement rate and pore water pressure dissipation rate are mainly controlled by the permeability of soil. Both laboratory and field tests show that the permeability is varied during the loading and consolidation process. It is known that consolidation process is accompanied by decrease in void ratio which leads to decrease in the coefficient of permeability. The importance of the decrease of the coefficient of permeability on the time rate of settlement and pore water pressure needs to be investigated.
This paper takes into account the change in coefficient of permeability during consolidation and studies its effect on consolidation characteristics of a clay layer. The finite element method is used in the analysis and the package Geo-Slope is adopted through coupling the programs SIGMA/W and SEEP/W. The relationship between the applied pressure and permeability was determined experimentally for three samples.
It was concluded that the effect of permeability is clear at later times of consolidation due to decrease in void ratio and hence slower dissipation of pore water pressure. Taking into account variable permeability leads to longer times of consolidation. At later times (after 400 days), the excess pore water pressure predicted for the case of variable permeability is greater than
conventional case by about (10 – 12) %.