Abstract: Ignoring the liquid-phase inertia might be one of the important reasons for the deviation between the pore water pressure calculated based on one-dimensional consolidation theory and its observed value. To investigate the cause of this deviation, the dynamic consolidation coefficient was introduced to reflect the influence of the liquid-phase inertial force. The Biot dynamic consolidation equation was degraded to a one-dimensional case and applied to the foundation settlement analysis, and its numerical solution was obtained by using the finite volume method. The validity of the proposed numerical solution method was verified by comparing it with the examples solved by the finite difference method in the literature. Then the influences of porosity, dynamic consolidation coefficient and different boundary conditions on the consolidation process were investigated. The numerical results illustrated that both porosity and dynamic consolidation coefficient significantly affect the lag effect of pore water pressure. Among them, a larger porosity corresponds to a shorter duration required for pore water pressure to attain its peak value. Furthermore, there exists a critical porosity, at which the influence of the inertial force of the liquid phase becomes negligible. Porosity exerts a certain degree of influence on the average consolidation degree defined by pore water pressure in the early stage of consolidation, but it will gradually weaken in the middle and later stages. A larger dynamic consolidation coefficient results in a more pronounced lag effect of pore pressure in the early stage of consolidation will be. In addition, when considering the dynamic effect, the distribution of pore water pressure along depth under two-way drainage condition will gradually tend to be symmetrical from the initial asymmetry, and the peak value of pore water pressure exceeds the overburden load value.

Key words: saturated soil, dynamic consolidation, finite volume method, inertial force, pore water pressure, porosity