Theoretical and experimental studies on interfacial resistance of electro-osmotic consolidation for soft ground improvement

The electro-osmosis has been applied experimentally in the fields of ground improvement, silt dredging and heavy metal pollution remediation. However, the potential loss at the clay-electrode interface during electro-osmosis consolidation is high, resulting in high energy consumption. In this study, the reaction process at the clay-electrode interface is analyzed from an electrochemical perspective to explain the mechanism of interfacial resistance. Based on the interfacial resistance model, the indoor electro-osmotic tests are carried out using metallic electrodes (copper) and electrodes of electro-kinetic geosynthetic to study the changes in the interface resistance under long-term energization. The results show that the interfacial resistance model can be used to analyze the mechanism of interfacial resistance change under long-term electroosmotic conditions. The total interfacial resistance is influenced by the cathodic interfacial resistance at the early stage of energization, and at the later stage of electroosmosis, it is more influenced by the anode resistance. The interfacial resistance is an important influence on the efficiency of electro-osmotic drainage. Therefore, it should be monitored and used as a control index for electro-osmotic design in the project.