Abstract: Electro-osmotic consolidation is a promising method to treat soft soils. A series of experiments are conducted in this study to investigate the influence of soil pH value and salinity on the electro-osmotic consolidating process of soil. The coefficients of electro-osmotic permeability, total volume of the discharged water, drainage rate, and water content are obtained, verifying the coefficient of electro-osmotic permeability and Zeta potential are affected significantly by soil pH value. It is practicable to predict the coefficient of electro-osmotic permeability, which increases with the initial soil pH value, by measuring zeta potential. For the samples with higher initial soil pH value, water content after the experiment is decreasing near the anode and increasing near the cathode. As soil salinity increases, the electro-osmotic permeability and drainage rate are both decreasing, while energy consumption is increasing. This study indicates that the soft soil with low salinity and high pH value is favourable for electro-osmotic consolidation.

Key words: electro-osmotic consolidation, coefficient of electro-osmotic permeability, soil pH value, soil salinity, soft soil