Scale Influence Of Treated Zone Under Vacuum Preloading

The distributions of deformation of soft soil subjected to vacuum preloading have been presented in many case studies; however, the explanations for that deformation behavior have not yet been investigated thoroughly. The influences by the scale are depicted in this paper based on simple numerical analyses and statistical presentation of case studies. Both the width and the depth of treated zone affect the deformation of soft soil in treated zone, which the reason is the development of the effective stresses and stress path. Due to boundary constraints, the increase in effective stresses may not be isotropic under vacuum preloading in the center of large area treated zone, and the maximum settlements and inward lateral displacements have been significant affected by the treated width and depth. K-0 consolidation condition under vacuum preloading may be estimated of 2.5 times treated depth away from the treated edge.