Vertical drain consolidation with piecewise linear surcharge and vacuum

Maintaining the simplicity of Hansbo's (1981) solution, this paper presents radial consolidation equations that capture some of the versatility of more complex analytical solutions. Material and geometry properties may vary piecewise-constant with time while loading/unloading, both surcharge and vacuum, may vary piecewise-linear with time. The new equations are easily implemented in a spreadsheet or computer program providing a simple yet versatile tool for analysis of consolidation problems dominated by radial drainage. Computer code for implementing the new approach in Microsoft Excel is provided