Experiments on One-dimensional Consolidation Characteristics of Marine Soft Clay in Yangtze Estuary

To investigate the consolidation characteristics and the variation of consolidation parameters (consolidation coefficient C_v, compression coefficient a_v and permeability coefficient k) of saturated marine soft clay in the Yangtze estuary, a series of multistage one-dimensional consolidation tests were conducted on the marine soft clay of an offshore wind platform project in the Yangtze estuary of Qidong city. The results show that during the natural deposition process, the marine soft clay in the Yangtze estuary has a weak structure due to the co-action of the Yangtze River current and the tidal waves of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Furthermore, during the consolidation process, the development of consolidation deformation of the marine soft clay can be divided into three stages: linear development stage, rapid deformation stage, and stabilization stage, and the increment of consolidation deformation ΔS_ti decreases first and then increases with the increase of consolidation stress. Moreover, during the consolidation process, the C_v of marine clay and marine silty clay first decreases and then increases, and the a_v and k gradually decrease. The C_v and k of marine silty clay were larger, and the a_v was smaller than those of marine clay. This study can provide basic parameters for the foundation design of marine engineering in this region.