Radial consolidation of soft soil under cyclic loads

The increase in excess pore pressure due to undrained cyclic loading will decrease the effective stress of a soft soil, causing possible undrained failure at times. In this note, a model for partially drained radial consolidation under cyclic loading is proposed. This is achieved through the application of radial consolidation theory and the internal generation of excess pore pressure predicted by an undrained cyclic model. This study demonstrates theoretically the ability of vertical drains to prevent excess pore pressure accumulating to a critical value under cyclic loading.