3D Numerical Model of Electro-Kinetic Sedimentation−Consolidation of Dredged Mud with Variable Parameters

The rapid growth of world population in the past few decades requires a respective development of infrastructure, especially in populated coastal regions. This makes the construction on weak soils inevitable. Among many ground improvement approaches, electro-kinetic consolidation (EK) is an innovative method which is also applicable in some extreme conditions such as underwater construction. However, the application of EK in engineering design requires a method for formulation and/or simulation, that can facilitate parametric studies. This paper presents a new numerical model for multi-physics simulation of electrical, hydraulic and mechanic phenomena in EK with variable parameters. Using finite element analysis facilitated by COMSOL MultiPhysics, the model estimates the influence of gravity and electromagnetic field on the pore water flow by several partial differential equations. A comparison of numerical and experimental results shows a good agreement.