Prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) incorporating with a heat source

which can accelerate the foundation consolidation in vertical drains system

is stimulated by finite element method based on the thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupling. Firstly

both differential form and weak form of control equations for THM coupling problems are presented; and the finite element formulations are deduced. Secondly

a fully coupling THM model is established in Comsol Multiphysics software. Comparison between numerical results and analytic solutions are carried out in order to validate the model. At last

a representative calculation example of a single drain foundation in which has a smear zone is adopted. In order to study the influence of the thermal effect on consolidation

the example is modified through a heat source set in the well zone; and three cases (1) uncoupling temperature(UT)

(2) coupling temperature without considering the thermal effect on property of soil (CT) and (3) coupling temperature with considering the thermal effect on property of soil(CTP) are executed. The results show that the rate of consolidation decreases a little in the CT case since the heat source produces the extra pore pressure; and increases significantly in CPT case due to the higher temperature enhancing the hydraulic conductivity in smear zone.