Effects of body force on transient poroelastic consolidation due to groundwater pumping

By applying linear poro-elasticity theory, the body force effect on steady soil consolidation, i.e., settlement, caused by constant water table depression due to groundwater pumping was investigated. The result shows that when the soil is soft or thick, or both, neglecting the body force effect can lead to severe underestimation of soil displacement and incremental effective stress. However, the transient response of soil consolidation was not analyzed. In addition, the water table depression due to groundwater pumping in fact varies with time. In this study, the body force effect on transient consolidation of soil subjected to variable water table depression is further examined. A poroelastic consolidation numerical model is developed herein to conduct this examination.