APPLICATION OF CENTRIFUGE MODEL TESTS TO SETTLEMENT BEHAVIOR UNDER GROUNDWATER RECOVERY

Land subsidence has been seen to have an effect in many countries, especially countries with areas of very soft soil. Settlement is generally found in high economic and developed locations and often depends on the increasing demand of humans for water. Namely, increased water consumption due to groundwater pumping results in an increase in settlement. All of these causes affect the changes in groundwater level. The government of Thailand has created rules to control groundwater consumption in order to solve subsidence and others problems. Changes in the water level directly affect soil settlement. This paper studies the land subsidence behavior by means of soil profiles obtained from Bangkok and the central area of Thailand, which are very similar, as a prototype soil model. The settlement behavior is examined through centrifuge tests performed after the water level drawdown due to water pumping. The groundwater level increases due to controlled pumping. Finally, the settlement results of the centrifuge tests are compared with the land subsidence characteristics of the Bangkok area. This research focuses on the testing methodology and soil settlement behavior. The land subsidence of Bangkok clay occurs continuously, but the vertical settlement of Kaolin clay is seen to be different at each stage of testing.