Reflection–transmission matrix method for the consolidation of a multilayered saturated soil

The consolidation of the layered saturated soil is an important issue in civil engineering and has been investigated extensively during the past decades. In this study, based on the Biot's theory, the reflection-transmission matrix (RTM) method for treating the layered saturated soil under axisymmetric consolidation is developed. To decouple the governing equations of the Biot's theory, the McNamee displacement functions are introduced, and the general solution for the saturated soil is obtained using the Laplace and Hankel transforms. In order to develop the RTM method for the layered saturated soil, based on the obtained general solution, the static wave vector corresponding to the state vector of the saturated soil and the transform matrix relating the aforementioned two vectors are defined. Also, the transfer matrices corresponding to the two vectors are introduced, and the representations of the RTMs for the static wave vector of the saturated soil are presented. As the state vector, static wave vector, and the transform matrix relating the two vectors are all defined in the global coordinate system, the RTMs obtained in this study thus have a reasonable physical meaning. By using the RTMs for the layered saturated soil, the solutions for the layered saturated soil subjected to external sources are derived. Comparison of results due to the proposed RTM method with some existing results and results due to the transfer matrix method validates the developed RTM method. Some numerical results are obtained based on the proposed RTM method for the layered saturated soil. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.