THE IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES FOR SOFT CLAYEY SOILS BY ELECTROKINETIC GEOSYNTHETIC (EKG) IN PERSIAN GULF WATER CONDITION

The usage of soft and very soft clays often has problematic issues on shear strength and bearing capacity. Increasing the drainage velocity by using electro-osmosis effect can be so much effective improving the soft soils’ shear strength. This effect can be mixed with geosynthetic advantages in drainage. Mechanical properties of soils can be improved by applying electrical current to soil, so called electrokinetic improvement .In this research, EKG has been used in some bench scale tests on soft kaolinite clay. It is tried to find out if this method is effective increasing drainage and improving the mechanical and hydraulic properties of soft soils in Persian Gulf water condition. Results showed that EKGmethod is much more effective in low-saline water condition than high-saline water condition

Keywords:

Electrokinetic , Soft clay , Salty water , Persian Gulf , Electrokinetic geosynthetic