Settlement prediction model of slurry suspension based on sedimentation rate attenuation

This paper introduces a slurry suspension settlement prediction model for cohesive sediment in a still water environment. With no sediment input and a still water environment condition, control forces between settling particles are significantly different in the process of sedimentation rate attenuation, and the settlement process includes the free sedimentation stage, the log-linear attenuation stage, and the stable consolidation stage according to sedimentation rate attenuation. Settlement equations for sedimentation height and time were established based on sedimentation rate attenuation properties of different sedimentation stages. Finally, a slurry suspension settlement prediction model based on slurry parameters was set up with a foundation being that the model parameters were determined by the basic parameters of slurry. The results of the settlement prediction model show good agreement with those of the settlement column experiment and reflect the main characteristics of cohesive sediment. The model can be applied to the prediction of cohesive soil settlement in still water environments.