Effect of drainage installations on the performance of sand drains

Abstract

This research work is concerned with an experimental study of the inward radial drainage of a remoulded fine-grained compressible soil to a central model sand drain. The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of the various methods of drain installation on the consolidation characteristics of the soil and to verify some of the available experimental results, especially those by Singh and Hattab (1979). Two different diameters of sand drain formers were used in two sizes of soil samples consolidated under three levels of loading. For the experimental work, two Rowe type consolidation cells especially designed for the purpose were used. Vertical flow consolidation tests were also conducted to compare the results with those from radial drainage. The results indicate that there-are marked differences in the performance- of sand drain due to installation conditions. Moreover, the consolidation characteristics varied with the size of drain diameter.