Simulation analysis of nonlinear consolidation in soft soil based on large-scale consolidation permeability tests

Abstract To mitigate the influence of test size on the nonlinear compression and permeability characteristics of soft soils, this study utilized a custom-made large scale consolidation-permeation apparatus to conduct indoor experiments. The relationship between the permeability coefficient and consolidation pressure of soft clay, with the preconsolidation stress as the critical point, was obtained. A nonlinear permeability model based on growth curves was established, with relevant fitting coefficients exceeding 0.99. Finally, through the secondary development of a finite element software subroutine, the nonlinear consolidation calculations of the soil were implemented and compared with experimental results, thereby validating the reliability of the model.