Settlement prediction method for staged preloading on soft clay ground

Abstract

To accurately predict the settlement of soft soil foundations under graded surcharge preloading, the Asaoka method was improved. Considering the change in the soil consolidation coefficient with load, the slope of the settlement prediction line was modified, and a prediction calculation method for the prediction line intercept was used. The improved Asaoka method considered the influence of consolidation stress on the consolidation coefficients and nonlinearity of soil consolidation. The reliability of the improved method was then verified through indoor consolidation tests and field observation. The results demonstrate that the consolidation coefficient C_v is not a constant, and it satisfies the relationship with the consolidation pressure P: C_v=aln(blnP), which has an error of less than 5%. The settlement prediction lines at various stress levels are not parallel, and the improved method exhibites a lower error rate than the original Asoaka method. The improved Asaoka method offers higher prediction accuracy than the traditional method and can reliably predict the settlement of soft soil foundations during graded surcharge preloading.

Keywords

Asaoka method / settlement prediction / staged preloading / consolidation coefficient