Abstract: Deformation and stability of the seawall on soft clay are the key problems for reclamation engineering. Centrifugal model test is carried out to obtain the soft clay settlements, where the variable acceleration method and constant acceleration method are applied to simulate the construction process and operating phase, respectively. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique is also introduced to capture the potential failure mode of seawall. Further, based on the total stress and effective stress analysis methods, the changes of global stability with time are analyzed by using GeoStudio software in both the construction process and operating phrase. Physical and numerical simulation results show that the centrifugal model test is able to reflect the deformation and stability behaviors of the seawall to a certain extent; and its data is in good agreement with that obtained by numerical simulation. The sliding surface of the seawall passes through the soft clay, leading to an immediate settlement of more than 1 m. In addition, the safety factor of global stability increases gradually with time after the seawall construction due to the dissipation of excess pore pressure. The maximum vertical and horizontal displacements are located at the axis and the toe of the seawall, respectively.

Key words: centrifugal model test, reclamation seawall, soft clay, settlement, stability