Abstract The buried depth of saturated clay layer has great influence on the initial effective stress distribution，and consequently on the characteristics of its nonlinear consolidation. Based on the well-known assumption of the linear relation between the pore ratio and the logarithm of effective stress or permeability conductivity，the one-dimensional nonlinear consolidation equation considering the effects of the initial effective stress distribution is generalized to consider the buried depth of saturated clay layer，and numerical analysis is performed by using finite volume method. In order to verify its validity，the numerical solution by the present method for the case that the initial effective stress is constant with the depth and the ratio of the compressibility index to the permeability index that is equal to 1 is compared with the analytical solution based on the nonlinear consolidation theory proposed by E. H. Davis and G. P. Raymond. Then the effects of some parameters such as the buried depth of clay layer，the ratio of the compressibility index to the permeability index and the value of the vertical uniform load on the consolidation process are investigated. The numerical results indicate that the rate of settlement of clay layer decreases as these three parameters increase respectively，while the effect of the buried depth of clay layer on the dissipative process of pore water pressure is restricted by the ratio of compressibility index to permeability index.
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Received: 16 July 2007
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