Experimental study on secondary consolidation behavior of soft soils

Based on a series of 1-D consolidation tests for three types of soft soils,the influence of consolidation pressure p and load ratio Δp/p on behavior of secondary consolidation was investigated.The results of tests show that under the condition of Δp/p=1,along with the increasing consolidation pressure p,the secondary consolidation ratio C increases to a peak value at first and then reduces gradually.The Δp/p has some effect on C.The difference of primary consolidation and secondary consolidation is related to Δp/p.The ratio of C to compression index C_c is affected by Δp/p in a certain degree.A functional relationship between C and p is proposed based on the test data,by which the secondary consolidation C of arbitrary loading step can be calculated.This relationship is verified by the test data of other researchers.