Rate-Dependent Empirical Models for Saturated Remolded Cohesive Soils under K0 Consolidation

This study takes remolded saturated cohesive soil in a deep foundation pit in the northern suburb of Xi'an as the research object and conducts a uniaxial confined continuous loading consolidation test to explore its consolidation deformation mechanism under the K ₀ state. The results reveal that the loading rate significantly affects soil deformation: under rapid loading, the initial drainage and densification are fast, but drainage is hindered in the later stage, resulting in the accumulation of pore water pressure. Therefore, the strain during the loading stage is small, and the lagging strain stage is completed during the constant load stage. Under slow loading, the two stages exhibit opposite strain distributions. In this study, the apparent consolidation resistance σ _a was defined using the inflection point of the test curve. Based on the strain rate effect reflected by it, a time-implicit rate-dependent empirical model of σ _v – ε _v –was constructed, and the physical meanings of each parameter were clarified. Meanwhile, time-explicit empirical models for the loading and constant load consolidation stages were established. The former is a σ –– t strain rate-dependent model, whereas the latter is a ε _v –– t strain rate-dependent model. The physical connotations of each parameter were also explained. The parameters of the established models are concise and have clear physical meanings, providing reliable theoretical support and reference for research on the strain rate effect of saturated remolded cohesive soil and its engineering applications.