Consolidation analysis of transversely isotropic layered saturated soils in the Cartesian coordinate system by extended precise integration method

A general solution for three-dimensional consolidation of transversely isotropic layered saturated soils is presented as an extension to the extended precise integration solution for consolidation in the cylindrical coordinate system. Starting with the governing equations of Biot's consolidation of transversely isotropic saturated soils in the Cartesian coordinate system, an ordinary differential matrix equation is deduced with the aid of Laplace-Fourier transforms. Based on the precise integration method for two-point boundary value problems, an extended precise integration solution of multilayered systems subjected to internal loads or dislocations is presented and then used to solve the above ordinary differential matrix equation, the actual solution in the physical domain is obtained by taking a numerical inversion. The feasibility of the proposed method is proved by three examples, and the influence of transverse isotropy of the soil skeleton on the consolidation behavior is analyzed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.