Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

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Geotextiles and Geomembranes

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geotexmem

Technical note

Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical

solution with an impeded drainage boundary under multi-ramp
loading
G.H. Lei a, *, C.W. Fu a, C.W.W. Ng b
a

Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Embankment Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Geotechnical Research Institute, Hohai University, 1 Xikang
Road, Nanjing 210098, China
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 8 December 2014
Received in revised form
22 June 2015
Accepted 3 July 2015
Available online xxx

An analytical solution is derived to predict consolidation with vertical drains under impeded drainage
boundary conditions and multi-ramp surcharge loading. The impeded drainage is modelled by adopting
the third type boundary condition with a dimensionless characteristic factor of drainage efciency
developed by Gray (1945) for one-dimensional consolidation. Fully drained and undrained boundary
conditions can also be modelled by applying an innite and a zero characteristic factor, respectively. The
combined effects of drain resistance and smear are taken into account fully. An explicit, rigorous
analytical solution is derived using the method of separation of variables to calculate excess pore-water
pressure at any arbitrary point in soil and to derive the overall average degree of consolidation. The
proposed solution can also be used to analyse one-dimensional consolidation without vertical drains but
with an impeded drainage boundary. Its validity and accuracy are veried by comparing the proposed
solution with the solutions developed by Gray (1945) and Terzaghi (1943). Its practical applicability is
also evaluated by analysing a case history involving a ll embankment, which was constructed over a
crust layer of hard soil overlying soft clay improved with stone columns. The crust layer is modelled as an
impeded drainage. Reasonably good agreement is obtained between the consolidation results obtained
from the proposed analytical solution and available three-dimensional nite-element predictions. With
the further consideration of smear effects, good agreement is achieved between the consolidation results
obtained from the proposed analytical solution and eld measurements.
2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords:
Consolidation
Pore pressures
Ground improvement
Embankments

1. Introduction
Soft soil is often preloaded with surcharge pressure as one of the
most economic and effective ways to consolidate it (Qubain et al.,
2014). Vertical prefabricated drains or sand/stone columns are
commonly utilised to accelerate the consolidation of soft soils under preloading (Almeida et al., 2015; Artidteang et al., 2011;
Cascone and Biondi, 2013; Chai et al., 2010; Indraratna et al.,
2010; Jang and Chung, 2014; Karunaratne, 2011; Li and Rowe,
2001; Lo et al., 2008, 2010; Rowe and Li, 2005; Rowe and
Taechakumthorn, 2008; Saowapakpiboon et al., 2009, 2010; Shen

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 86 13 851922201, 86 25 83787216; fax: 86 25

83786633.
E-mail addresses: 13851922201@qq.com (G.H. Lei), feitian.wei@qq.com
(C.W. Fu), cecwwng@ust.hk (C.W.W. Ng).

et al., 2005; Suleiman et al., 2014; Van Helden et al., 2008;

Voottipruex et al., 2014; Xue et al., 2014). Analytical solutions
predicting the extent of consolidation in preloading play an
important role in the preliminary design of vertical drains (AbuelNaga et al., 2012; Bari and Shahin, 2014; Basu and Prezzi, 2009;
Chung et al., 2014; Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna, 2009; Sinha
et al., 2009). Since the pioneering work of Barron (1948), the
challenge of deriving an analytical solution for cylindrical unit-cell
consolidation with a vertical drain has captured the attention of the
ground improvement community. For consolidation of a single
layer of homogeneous soil under surcharge preloading, various
solutions have been proposed based on different assumptions and
considerations. A large number of analytical solutions were derived
for the consolidation of soil with fully drained boundary conditions
at its top and/or bottom surface (e.g., Conte and Troncone, 2009;
Deng et al., 2013a, 2013b; Indraratna et al., 2011; Kianfar et al.,
2013; Lei et al., 2015; Lu et al., 2011, 2015; Ong et al., 2012;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003
0266-1144/ 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

Rujikiatkamjorn and Indraratna, 2009, 2015; Walker et al., 2012;

Zwanenburg and Barends, 2006). However, in reality, impeded
drainage is a matter of concern to practising engineers when the
permeability of drainage medium at a boundary surface is not high
enough to discharge the water expelled from the consolidating soil
promptly (Chai and Miura, 1999; Duncan, 1993; Olson, 1998). This
may occur when the consolidating soil is overlain by an improperly
graded sand blanket, which is prone to fouling and clogging by
inltration of ne particles due to consolidation and by intrusion of
ne particles due to ll compaction. Its hydraulic conductivity may
be signicantly reduced by ne content (Andersen and Schjetne,
2013; Bandini and Sathiskumar, 2009; Duong et al., 2014;
Tennakoon et al., 2012). Under these circumstances, the hydraulic
boundary condition would be more appropriately modelled as an
impeded drainage.
According to the continuity of the excess pore-water pressure
and the ow rate at the interface between the consolidating soil
and its surface drainage medium, Gray (1945) showed that an
impeded drainage can be described by the third type boundary
condition as follows:

vub
u
R b
vz
h

with

kvi h
kv hi

(1)

where z is the vertical coordinate directed downwards; accordingly,

the signs and  in Eq. (1) are adopted for the top and bottom
boundaries of the consolidating soil, respectively; ub is the excess
pore-water pressure at the boundary; h is the thickness of the
consolidating soil layer; R is a dimensionless characteristic factor of
drainage efciency; kv and kvi are the vertical hydraulic conductivity of the consolidating soil and its surface drainage medium,
respectively; and hi is the thickness of the drainage medium. The
fully drained and undrained boundary conditions can also be
described by Eq. (1) with R and R 0, respectively.
Based on the hydraulic boundary condition given by Eq. (1),
several analytical solutions have been proposed for solving onedimensional consolidation problems (Gray, 1945; Mesri, 1973;
Schiffman and Stein, 1970; Xie et al., 1999). For cylindrical unitcell consolidation with a vertical drain, the existing analytical solutions were derived only under instantaneous loading conditions
(Cheng et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2007; Sun et al., 2007; Zhang et al.,
2005). However, in practical situations, surcharge loading is
almost always gradually and incrementally applied. The total stress
in soil increases synchronously with the increase in surcharge
loading. Such loading conditions would be more appropriately
modelled as a time-dependent increase in total stress under multiramp loading.
An explicit, rigorous analytical solution is derived herein for
equal-strain consolidation with a vertical drain under impeded
drainage boundary conditions and multi-ramp loading. The excess
pore-water pressure at any arbitrary point in soil is obtained,
together with the overall average degree of consolidation. The
proposed solution can also be used to analyse vertical-drain
consolidation under fully drained conditions and onedimensional consolidation under impeded drainage boundary
conditions.

Fig. 1. A unit-cell model of consolidation under impeded drainage boundary

conditions.

#
"
kh v2 ur; z; t 1 vur; z; t
kv v2 ur; z; t

2
r
vr
gw
gw
vr
vz2


vst vuz; t

; rs  r  re
mv
vt
vt
"
#
ksh v2 us r; z; t 1 vus r; z; t
ksv v2 us r; z; t

2
r
vr
gw
gw
vr
vz2


vst vus z; t

; rd  r  rs
msv
vt
vt

Fig. 1 shows a unit-cell model for consolidation of undisturbed

and smeared soils with a vertical drain. The soils are subjected to a
time-dependent increase in total stress under multi-ramp loading.
The governing equations of equal-strain consolidation of undisturbed and smeared soils assuming constant material properties
(Terzaghi, 1943; Barron, 1948) are given in full by

(3)

where r and z are the radial and vertical coordinates, respectively; t

is time; rd, rs and re are the radii of the vertical drain, the smear zone
and the effective inuence zone of the vertical drain, respectively; u
and us are the excess pore-water pressure of undisturbed soil and
smeared soil, respectively; s is the increase in total stress in soil due
to surcharge loading; u and us are the average excess pore-water
pressure at a given depth in the radial direction between rs and re
and between rd and rs, respectively; kh, kv and mv are the horizontal
and vertical hydraulic conductivity and volume compressibility of
the undisturbed soil, respectively; ksh, ksv and msv are the horizontal
and vertical hydraulic conductivity and volume compressibility of
the smeared soil, respectively; and gw is the unit weight of water.
According to the continuity of the excess pore-water pressure
and the ow rate at the interface between the vertical drain and the
smeared soil, the drain resistance can be expressed as (Barron,
1948; Hansbo, 1981)


2ksh

2. Problem description

(2)

vus
vr


rd kd

v2 u s
vz2

!
0; r rd

(4)

where kd is the hydraulic conductivity of the vertical drain.

The continuity of the excess pore-water pressure and the ow
rate at the interface between the smeared soil and the undisturbed
soil can be described by

u us ; r rs

(5)

Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10


kh

vu
vr


ksh


vus
; r rs
vr

(6)

The hydraulic boundary conditions can be expressed as follows:

vu
u
vus
us
R
and
R ;
vz
h
vz
h
z 0 for the drainage  impeded top

(7)

vu vus

0; z h for the impervious bottom

vz
vz

(8)

vu
0; r re for the impervious vertical boundary
vr

(9)

for calculating the excess pore-water pressure at any arbitrary point

in the undisturbed soil and the smeared soil:

mv gw X
u
c1n I0 mn r c2n K0 mn r 1
kv n1

)
M
sinun z cotun hcosun z X

Cn;i t
u2n
i1

us

(10)

Fig. 2 schematically shows the increase in total stress in soil due

to multi-ramp surcharge loading. To facilitate the derivation of the
analytical solution, a new single equation is constructed to accurately describe the increase in total stress:

st

M
X

(14)

(15)

where

Cn;i t

#
"
8Th Thi;0
sn;i  sn;i1 8Th Thi;1 HhTh Thi;1 i
HhTh Thi;0 i
vn
vn
e
e
ti;1  ti;0
(16)

Fi tsi  si1 

(11)

i1

where

Fi t

msv gw X
c3n I0 msn r c4n K0 msn r 1
ksv n1
M
sinun z cotun hcosun z X
Cn;i t

u2n
i1

where h is the depth of the vertical drain.

The initial condition is given by

u us u us 0; t 0






t  ti;0 
H t  ti;0 1  H t  ti;1 H t  ti;1
ti;1  ti;0



H t  ti;j

0;
1;



t  ti; j < 0


; j 0; 1
t  ti; j  0

(12)

(13)

where Hht  ti;j i is the Heaviside step function; M is the total

number of loading ramps; ti;0 and ti;1 are the start time and end
time of the i-th ramp, respectively, as shown in Fig. 2; si is the increase in total stress in soil at the end time of the i-th ramp, and
s0 0.
The equations above describe the unit-cell consolidation problem to be solved.

where un is the positive root of the transcendental Eq. (A3) in

Appendix A, which can be solved easily using commercially available packages like Matlab; I0 and K0 are the modied Bessel functions of the rst and second kind of zero order, respectively; Th is
the time factor given by Eq. (A21) in Appendix A; the expressions
for c1n, c2n, c3n, c4n, mn, msn, Thi,j and vn are given by Eqs. (A58), (A59),
(A47), (A61), (A14), (A30), (A46) and (A22), respectively, in
Appendix A; and e is the base of the natural logarithm.
As usual, the overall average degree of consolidation is dened
as follows:

US t

st  uo
sM

where sM is the maximum increase in total stress in soil at the end

time tM,1 of the M-th ramp of surcharge loading, as shown in Fig. 2;
and uo is the overall average excess pore-water pressure, which can
be derived based on Eqs. (14) and (15) as

3. The analytical solution

Z
The governing Eqs. (2) and (3) are solved using the method of
separation of variables and the Fourier series, as presented in detail
in Appendix A. Explicit, rigorous analytical solutions are obtained

(17)

2
h

6
4

re

rs

Z
2prudr

3
rs

rd

7
2prus dr 5dz


p re2  rd2 h
(
!

X
rs2  rd2
1
1 re2  rs2


mv gw Un
msv gw Usn
3
kv
ksv
re2  rd2 h n1 un
)
M
X
Cn;i t


uo

i1

(18)

Fig. 2. Time-dependent increase in total stress in soil under multi-ramp loading.

where Un and Usn are given by Eqs. (A18) and (A33), respectively, in
Appendix A. Thus, by substituting Eqs. (11) and (18) into Eq. (17),
the overall average degree of consolidation can be obtained.
For ease of application of the proposed solution, a simple
Fortran program that solves the modied Bessel functions with
freeware subroutines (Press et al., 1992) has been developed. The
results are obtained through double-precision arithmetic
calculation.

Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

It is worth noting that consolidation under fully drained top

boundary conditions (i.e., R in Eq. (A3) in Appendix A) can also
be analysed using the proposed solution by simply letting

un

2n  1p
2h

(19)

Apart from this, the proposed solution can also be used to

analyse one-dimensional consolidation without vertical drains, by
applying an extremely low rd value (e.g., 0.001 m), letting kd, kh, ksh
and ksv be equal to kv, and letting msv be equal to mv.
4. Verication
In order to verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed
analytical solution, the results calculated from the proposed solution for one-dimensional consolidation under impeded drainage
boundary conditions are compared with those given by the
analytical solution of Gray (1945). Gray (1945) developed an
analytical solution to one-dimensional consolidation with an
impeded drainage boundary under instantaneous loading. Fig. 3
compares the degrees of consolidation calculated from the proposed solution, the solution of Gray (1945) and Terzaghi's (1943)
well-known one-dimensional consolidation solution. Excellent
agreement is obtained. As expected, the characteristic factor of
drainage efciency has a potentially important inuence on
consolidation.
5. Case study
The proposed solution is also applied to a case history involving
a ll embankment at New Pantai Expressway in Malaysia (Tan et al.,
2008). The 1.8 m high embankment was constructed with sandy
material in 9 days. The ground consisted of a 1 m thick upper crust
layer of hard soil and a 5 m thick layer of soft clay overlying a stiff
clay layer (see Fig. 4(a)). Stone columns 800 mm in diameter, arranged in a square grid with a centre-to-centre spacing of 2.4 m,
were installed from the embankment base to a depth of 6 m above
the stiff clay layer. A settlement plate was installed to measure the
settlement at the centre of the embankment (measurement point
SP1). Using the three-dimensional nite-element method, Tan et al.
(2008) computed the settlement at SP1 and the excess pore-water
pressure at a computation point A, which was located at a depth of
3.5 m below the centre of the embankment and at the centre of the
square grid (in plan) of stone columns (see Fig. 4(a)). In the present
study, the excess pore-water pressure at point A and the overall
average degree of consolidation US(t) below the centre of the
embankment are calculated using Eqs. (14) and (17), respectively,
Fig. 4. Comparisons of calculated results from the proposed solution and reported eld
data and computed values by Tan et al. (2008).

Fig. 3. A comparison between the solution proposed in this study and those developed
by Gray (1945) and Terzaghi (1943).

adopting the calculation parameters presented by Tan et al. (2008)

(see the rst three columns of Table 1). Although the upper crust
layer can serve as a horizontal drainage blanket for discharging the
water expelled from the stone columns installed through it, its
hydraulic conductivity is in the order of 107 m/s, which is only two
orders of magnitude higher than the hydraulic conductivity of the
underlying soft clay. For this reason, the upper crust layer is
modelled as an impeded drainage boundary for the consolidation
of soft clay. The characteristic factor R of drainage efciency of the
upper crust layer is derived from Eq. (1) and the adopted parameters, as given in Table 1. For comparison purpose, the measured
and computed settlements presented by Tan et al. (2008) are normalised by their corresponding ultimate values to reect the degree of consolidation. Similarly, the computed and calculated

Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

Table 1
Calculation parameters adopted from Tan et al. (2008).
Drain properties

Soil properties

Drainage boundary, stress and loading conditions

Back-analysed parameters for smeared soil

kd 1.16  104 m/s

rd 0.4 m
rs 0.4 m
re 1.2 m
h 5.0 m

kv ksv 1.16  109 m/s

mv msv 0.6753  103 kPa1
kh ksh 3.47  109 m/s

R 500
M1
s1 32.4 kPa
t1,1 9 d

rs 2.5rd 1.0 m
ksv kv 1.16  109 m/s
msv mv 0.6753  103 kPa1
ksh 0.4kh 1.388  109 m/s

excess pore-water pressures are also normalised by their corresponding maximum values. The smear effects due to the installation of stone columns are not considered in the three-dimensional
nite-element analysis performed by Tan et al. (2008). Fig. 4(b)
compares the degrees of consolidation calculated from the newly
proposed solution with those measured and computed reported by
Tan et al. (2008) using the settlement data obtained at SP1. Fig. 4(c)
compares the excess pore-water pressures at point A calculated
from the newly proposed solution with those computed by Tan
et al. (2008). The dashed lines represent the calculated results for
consolidation under impeded drainage boundary conditions
without consideration of the smear effect. It can be seen that these
results are in reasonably good agreement with those computed
using the three-dimensional nite-element method, especially
during the loading period. Nevertheless, when compared with the
measured data, the calculated rates of consolidation are relatively
signicantly overestimated by both the analytical solution and the
three-dimensional nite-element method, as shown in Fig. 4(b).
This is attributed to the fact that the smear effects are not considered in both cases.
To investigate the smear effects on consolidation, back-analysis
using the newly proposed analytical solution is carried out with
back-analysed parameters for smeared soil, which are listed in the
last column of Table 1. According to Weber et al. (2010), the radius
of a smear zone is assumed to be 2.5 times the radius of the stone
column, that is, rs 2.5rd. The vertical hydraulic conductivity and
volume compressibility of smeared soil are assumed to be the same
as those of undisturbed soil, that is, ksv kv and msv mv. The
horizontal hydraulic conductivity of smeared soil is assumed to be
0.4 times that of undisturbed soil, that is, ksh 0.4kh, which is
within the range of 0.2khe0.8kh derived from experiments (Hird
and Moseley, 2000; Juneja et al., 2013; Rujikiatkamjorn et al.,
2013; Sathananthan and Indraratna, 2006; Sharma and Xiao,
2000). As shown in Fig. 4(b), it is evident that the calculated results including the smear effects (solid line) are consistent with the
measured degrees of consolidation. This indicates that the smear
effects are signicant and should not be ignored.
To investigate the effect of loading conditions on consolidation,
the degrees of consolidation and the excess pore-water pressures
under instantaneous loading are also calculated using the proposed
solution, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4(b) and (c). It can be
observed that the rate of consolidation and the rate of dissipation of
excess pore-water pressure are generally overestimated if an
instantaneous loading condition is assumed. This indicates that a
realistic modelling of the loading conditions is necessary for
consolidation analysis.
Ideally, an application of the proposed analytical solution should
be compared with a case history involving consolidation with
prefabricated vertical drains. However, as far as the authors are
aware, documented case histories involving consolidation with
prefabricated vertical drains where sand blanket is generally taken
for granted as fully drained are not suitable for comparison here.
The case history reported by Tan et al. (2008) involving consolidation of soft ground by stone columns is thus selected as it is
relevant to an impeded drainage boundary. The calculated results

may be considered as a rst approximation to the analysis of

consolidation of soft clay with stone columns only, as the reinforcement and arching effects due to the use of stone columns are
ignored (Ali et al., 2014; Castro and Sagaseta, 2011, 2013; Elsawy,
2013; Indraratna et al., 2013; Miranda et al., 2015; Shahu and
Reddy, 2014; Zhang et al., 2012). It is evident that there is a lack
of studies of in-situ permeability of sand blanket and its effect on
consolidation of soil. Further studies on this topic appear to be
warranted.
6. Conclusions
A rigorous, explicit, analytical equal-strain solution is proposed
for a unit-cell model of consolidation with a vertical drain under
impeded drainage boundary conditions and multi-ramp surcharge
loading. The solution can also be used to analyse vertical-drain
consolidation under fully drained boundary conditions and onedimensional consolidation under impeded drainage and fully
drained boundary conditions. Excellent agreement is obtained between the calculated results from the special cases of the proposed
solution and those from two available analytical solutions in the
literature. The practical applicability of the solution to consolidation under impeded drainage boundary conditions is also explored
employing a case study involving an embankment constructed over
a crust layer of hard soil and a layer of soft clay improved with stone
columns. The calculated results from the proposed solution are
shown to be in reasonably good agreement with measured data and
numerically-computed results, when the crust layer is modelled as
an impeded drainage boundary and the smear effects are considered. This suggests that the proposed solution is valid for the more
general cases of drainage boundary conditions. Moreover, the case
study shows that the smear effects on consolidation with stone
columns are signicant and should not be ignored. Owing to a lack
of eld studies of in-situ permeability of sand blanket, further researches on its drainage effect on consolidation are needed in order
to evaluate the practical applicability of the proposed analytical
solution to the consolidation problem with prefabricated vertical
drains.
Acknowledgements
This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (grant number 51278171), the 111 Project
(grant number B13024), the Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities of China (grant number 2015B06014), and the
Chang Jiang Scholars Program of the Ministry of Education of China.
Appendix A. Derivation of Eqs. (14) and (15)
Consolidation of undisturbed soil
The excess pore-water pressure of undisturbed soil can be
expressed by introducing the Fourier sine and cosine series as
follows:

Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

ur; z; t

un r; tsinun z bn cosun z

(A1)

n1

where un is the corresponding Fourier coefcient; bn and un are

coefcients to be determined by the hydraulic boundary conditions. Substituting Eq. (A1) into Eqs. (7) and (8) yields

ur; z; t

un r; tsinun z cotun hcosun z

si

(A3)

un tsinun z cotun hcosun z

where ln is the separation constant. A solution to Eq. (A11) is

An r ln fn c1n I0 mn r c2n K0 mn r 1

where un is the positive root of the transcendental Eq. (A3).

The average excess pore-water pressure at a given depth and the
increase in total stress in undisturbed soil (i.e., Eq. (11)) can be
expressed, similar to Eq. (A2), as follows:

uz; t

(A11)

(A4)

where I0 and K0 are the modied Bessel functions of the rst and
second kind of zero order, respectively; c1n and c2n are the constants
of integration to be determined; and

fn

gw
kv u2n

(A13)

m2n

kv u2n
kh

(A14)

The average excess pore-water pressure at a given depth is given

n1

by

sn;i sinun z cotun hcosun z

1

uz; t  2
p re  rs2

(A5)

n1

st

X
n1

M 
X

)


Fi t sn;i  sn;i1

i1

ur; z; t2prdr
rs

rs

(A6)

cotun hcosun z

(A15)

From Eqs. (A4) and (A15), the following can be derived:

where un and sn,i are their corresponding Fourier coefcients; and

the latter is derived (see Appendix B) as

2si sin2 un h
un h sinun hcosun h

Zre

3
2 r
Ze

X
1
4 An r2prdr 5Bn tsinun z

 2
p re  rs2 n1

 sinun z cotun hcosun z

sn;i

(A12)

(A2)

n1

un h tanun h R

"
#


kh v2 An r 1 vAn r
kv 2
mv
vun t
ln
f

u
A
r




n
n
n
r vr
vt
gw
gw
Bn t
vr 2

(A7)

Substituting Eqs. (A2), (A4) and (A6) along with Eq. (12) into the
governing Eq. (2) yields

un t

B t
 n

p re2  rs2

Zre
An r2prdr

(A16)

rs

Substituting Eq. (A12) into Eq. (A16) yields

un t ln fn Un Bn t

(A17)

where

Un 1

2c1n mn re I1 mn re  mn rs I1 mn rs   2c2n mn re K1 mn re  mn rs K1 mn rs 
mn re 2  mn rs 2

#
"


kh v2 un r; t 1 vun r; t
kv 2
vun t


un un r; t mv fn 
2
r
vr
vt
gw
gw
vr



M
X


1  H t  ti;1 
fn
H t  ti;0 sn;i  sn;i1
t

t
i;1
i;0
i1

(A8)

where I1 and K1 are the modied Bessel functions of the rst and
second kind of order one, respectively.
Substituting Eq. (A17) into Eq. (A11) yields

(A9)



vBn t
ln Bn t
mv fn  ln fn Un
vt

Using the method of separation of variables, the following

equation can be written:

un r; t An rBn t

(A18)

(A10)

where A and B are functions of radial coordinate and time,

respectively. Substituting Eq. (A10) into Eq. (A8) gives

(A19)

A solution of Eq. (A19) is

Bn t



8Th
1
an e vn mv fn fn
ln fn

(A20)

where an is the constant of integration to be determined; Th is the

time factor; and

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G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

kh t

Th
vn

(A21)

mv gw 2re
mn re

Thus, Eq. (A24) can be rewritten as

us r; z; t

2Un




X
8Tsh
c3n I0 msn r c4n K0 msn r 1 asn e vsn msv fsn fn
n1

(A22)

sinun z cotun hcosun z

(A34)

Based on Eqs. (A10), (A12) and (A20), Eq. (A2) can be rewritten
as




X
8Th
ur; z; t
c1n I0 mn r c2n K0 mn r 1 an e vn mv fn fn
n1

In the following sections, the constants of integration in Eqs.

(A23) and (A34) are determined according to the initial conditions
and the vertical hydraulic boundary conditions, together with the
equations of drain resistance and interface drainage.

 sinun z cotun hcosun z

(A23)

Initial conditions
Without loss of generality, the initial average excess pore-water
pressures for undisturbed soil and smeared soil are assumed to be

Consolidation of smeared soil

Again by introducing the Fourier sine and cosine series, the
excess pore-water pressure at any arbitrary point and the average
excess pore-water pressure at a given depth of smeared soil can be
expressed in accordance with Eqs. (7) and (8) of the top and bottom
hydraulic boundary conditions as follows:

us r; z; t

usn r; tsinun z cotun hcosun z

us z; t

usn tsinun z cotun hcosun z

(A25)
an

where usn and usn are their corresponding Fourier coefcients.

Using the method of separation of variables, the following
equation can be written:

usn r; t Asn rBsn t

(A26)

Asn r lsn fsn c3n I0 msn r c4n K0 msn r 1



8Tsh
1
Bsn t
asn e vsn msv fsn fn
lsn fsn

(A35)

1


2
p rs  rd2

Zrs
us r; z; t 02prdr s0

(A36)

rd

sn;0
sn;1
 mv fn
Un
t1;1  t1;0

asn

sn;0
sn;1
 msv fsn
Usn
t1;1  t1;0

(A37)

(A38)

(A27)
(A28)

Bn t Bsn t

(A39)

Substituting Eqs. (A20) and (A28) into Eq. (A39) yields

where lsn is the separation constant; c3n, c4n and asn are the constants of integration to be determined; and

fsn

gw
ksv u2n

(A29)

m2sn

ksv u2n
ksh

(A30)





8Th
8Tsh
1
1
an e vn mv fn fn
asn e vsn msv fsn fn
ln fn
lsn fsn
(A40)
Eq. (A40) requires that

ksh t

an
ln fn

asn lsn fsn

(A41)

ln
mv

lsn msv

(A42)

Th Tsh

vn
vsn

(A43)

(A31)

msv gw 2rs 2
2Usn

(A32)

msn rs 2

Usn 1

ur; z; t 02prdr s0
rs

where sn,0 is the Fourier coefcient of Fourier series expansions of

the initial increase in total vertical stress s0 as shown in Fig. 2.
In order to ensure continuity of pore-water pressure and ow
rate at all times, the time functions for the consolidation of undisturbed soil and smeared soil must be the same, i.e.,

Following the same derivation procedures as above for the

consolidation of undisturbed soil, the following solution to Eq.
(A26) for the consolidation of smeared soil can be obtained:

vsn

us z; t 0

Zre

Substituting Eq. (A23) into Eq. (A35) and substituting Eq. (A34)
into Eq. (A36) yield

n1

Tsh

1


p re2  rs2

(A24)

n1

uz; t 0

2c3n msn rs I1 msn rs  msn rd I1 msn rd   2c4n msn rs K1 msn rs  msn rd K1 msn rd 
msn rs 2  msn rd 2

(A33)

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G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

It can be readily proved that by Eqs. (A37), (A38), (A41) and

(A42), Eq. (A43) is satised.
For the initial conditions specied in Eq. (10) and Fig. 2, i.e.
s0 0 and sn,0 0, Eq. (A37) becomes

an mv fn

sn;1
t1;1  t1;0

(A44)

By substituting Eqs. (A9) and (A44) into Eq. (A20), the following
generalised time function can be derived:

Bn t

(
M
sn;i  sn;i1
mv fn X
ln fn i1
ti;1  ti;0
#)
"
8Th Thi;1
8Th Thi;0
H
T
T
H
T
T
h
i
h
i
h
hi;1
h
hi;0
v
v
n
n
e
 e

s
kh kv
an I0 mn rs 
I m rs D3
ksh ksv 1 n

(A53)

s
kh kv
K m rs D3
bn K0 mn rs
ksh ksv 1 n

(A54)

D3

D2 I0 msn rs K0 msn rs
D2 I1 msn rs  K1 msn rs

(A55)

D4



msv kv D3 I1 msn rs  I0 msn rs
1 1
mv ksv D1 I1 msn rd  I0 msn rd

(A56)

(A45)

where

Thi;j

where

Vertical hydraulic boundary conditions

kh ti; j
mv gw 2re 2

; j 0; 1

(A46)

Substituting Eq. (A23) into Eq. (9) yields

c1n I1 mn re  c2n K1 mn re 0

(A57)

The following can be derived from Eqs. (A52) and (A57):

Drain resistance
Substituting Eq. (A34) into Eq. (4) yields

c3n

1
D2 c4n
D1 I1 msn rd  I0 msn rd

(A47)

D1

2 ksh msn
rd kd u2n

(A48)

D K m r K0 msn rd
D2 1 1 sn d
D1 I1 msn rd  I0 msn rd

(A49)

c1n

D4 K1 mn re
Dn

(A58)

c2n

D4 I1 mn re
Dn

(A59)

Dn an K1 mn re  bn I1 mn re

(A60)

Substituting Eqs. (A47), (A58) and (A59) into Eq. (A50) leads to

c4n

For an ideal drain without drain resistance, kd , and hence

D1 0.

mv

msv


s
ksv kh c1n I1 mn rs  c2n K1 mn rs
kv ksh D2 I1 msn rs  K1 msn rs

I1 msn rs
D1 I1 msn rd  I0 msn rd D2 I1 msn rs  K1 msn rs 
(A61)

Interface continuity

The nal solution

Substituting Eqs. (A23) and (A34) into Eqs. (5) and (6) and
considering Eq. (A40) yield

ln fn c1n I0 mn rs c2n K0 mn rs 1
lsn fsn c3n I0 msn rs c4n K0 msn rs 1

(A50)

kh ln fn mn c1n I1 mn rs  c2n K1 mn rs 
ksh lsn fsn msn c3n I1 msn rs  c4n K1 msn rs 

Z
sn;i

n1

(Z

0
h
0

Based on Eqs. (A2), (A10), (A12) and (A45), Eq. (14) can be
formulated for calculating the excess pore-water pressure of undisturbed soil. Similarly, based on Eqs. (A24), (A26), (A27), (A39),
(A42) and (A45), Eq. (15) can be derived for calculating the excess
pore-water pressure of smeared soil.
Appendix B. Derivation of Eq. (A7)

(A51)
According to Eq. (A5), the following equation can be derived.

si sinun z cotun hcosun zdz

(B1)

sinun z cotun hcosun zsinum z cotum hcosum zdz

Substituting Eq. (A47) into Eqs. (A50) and (A51) gives

an c1n bn c2n D4 0

The numerator term of Eq. (B1) can be easily derived as

(A52)

Zh
si sinun z cotun hcosun zdz
0

si
un

(B2)

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G.H. Lei et al. / Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2015) 1e10

To obtain the denominator term of Eq. (B1), the following

triangular orthogonal relation is needed. For m s n, it can be shown
that

Zh
sinun z cotun hcosun z
0

sinum z cotum hcosum zdz

Zh

Zh

cosun h  z cosum h  z
,
dz
sinun h
sinum h
cosum un h  z cosum  un h  z
dz
2 sinun hsinum h

(B3)

1
1
sinum un h
sinum  un h
um un
um  un

2 sinun hsinum h

um sinum hcosun h  un cosum hsinun h

um un um  un sinun hsinum h

um h tanum h  un h tanun h
um un um  un h tanun htanum h

According to Eq. (A3), Eq. (B3) for m s n is

Zh
sinun z cotun hcosun z

(B4)

 sinum z cotum hcosum zdz 0

Therefore, the denominator term of Eq. (B1) can be derived as

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8 h
9
Z
=
<
P
sinun z cotun hcosun zsinum z cotum hcosum zdz
;
n1:
0

Zh

sinun z cotun hcosun z2 dz

(B5)

un h sinun hcosun h
2un sin2 un h

By substituting Eqs. (B2) and (B5) into Eq. (B1), Eq. (A7) in
Appendix A can be obtained.

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drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003

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Please cite this article in press as: Lei, G.H., et al., Vertical-drain consolidation using stone columns: An analytical solution with an impeded
drainage boundary under multi-ramp loading, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.003