To, Peter, Malekzadeh, Mona, Sivakugan, Nagaratnam, Nguyen, Peter, and Buskens, Rahoi (2023) Influence of salinity on sedimentation during electro-kinetic consolidation of dredged mud. Environmental Geotechnics. (In Press)

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Abstract

Electro-kinetic consolidation is an innovative method for ground improvement in special conditions such as underwater construction. This method uses a weak electromagnetic field to dewater weak soils or slurries. Due to the chemical structure, water molecules act as dipoles, where the positive charge has a larger spatial distribution. Hence, when a low voltage is applied, water moves towards the cathode and can be drained there. Most current experimental studies in laboratories often use pure water, whereas weak soils located offshore or nearby the coastal line are often saline. It is not understood for saline soil that whether a small zeta potential decreases the efficacy or electromigration may adverse the negative effect. This paper presents an experimental research on the influence of salinity on the efficacy of Electro-kinetic consolidation methods. The work reported herein suggests that the coefficient of consolidation increases linearly with salinity. Higher the salinity faster is the consolidation. Salinity of 40 g/l can make the consolidation process six times faster.

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