SOIL IMPROVEMENT USING ELECTROKINETIC

This Ph.D. thesis addresses issues relevant to the §improvement of the strength properties of soft soils §and the dewatering and consolidation of sediments §and mine tailings. Electrokinetic treatment and §vacuum preloading are the techniques investigated in §the thesis. Despite the invention of electrokinetic §treatment of soil in the late 1930s, the technique §has not been commonly used due in part to lack of §a proper understanding of the factors influencing §the process. The vacuum preloading consolidation has §been applied in land reclamation and other projects §since 1957. However, the design of vacuum preloading §systems is primarily empirical. Numerical modelling §and experimental studies are needed to predict the §outcome of the treatment and optimize the technique. §The thesis contains two major studies in the §principles of soil improvement, i.e. electrokinetics §related and vacuum consolidation related. In the §electrokinetics studies, the thesis covers eight §major parameters that may influence the process. In §the vacuum consolidation, the thesis focused on §developing an analytical model, and designing a §testing apparatus to verify the model.