Numerical Analysis of Axisymmetric Consolidation Around Jacked Piles Considering Permeability Reduction in the Disturbed Soil Zone
Abstract
The installation of jacked piles inevitably disturbs the surrounding soil, leading to a significant reduction in its radial permeability, which in turn retards the dissipation of excess pore water pressure. This study develops an enhanced axisymmetric consolidation theory that explicitly incorporates this installation‐induced disturbance. The soil around the pile is conceptually divided into a disturbed zone and an undisturbed zone, with three distinct modes of permeability variation within the disturbed zone being investigated, namely Pattern A (linear decay), Pattern B (nonlinear decay, modeled as a quadratic function), and Pattern C (abrupt decay). The governing partial differential equations are solved using an alternating implicit finite difference scheme to obtain the distribution in space and time of excess pore water pressure. The proposed numerical results are validated through comparisons with existing theoretical solutions and field measurements. A key finding reveals that Pattern A and Pattern B provide the closest agreement with in‐situ data, while Pattern C model overestimates the disturbance effect and shows a significant deviation from field observations, highlighting the importance of a realistically transition in permeability.