An electro-osmotic consolidation (EO) combined with vacuum preloading (VP) was investigated on marine clay using laboratory tests. To improve consolidation efficiency and reduce the settlement difference, a new prefabricated device was designed to combine EO and VP for the tests. The results indicated that the vacuum preloading with intermittent electro-osmotic consolidation (VP–I-ECM) provided more water discharge with higher discharge rate and produced larger soil settlement compared to traditional vacuum preloading and electro-osmotic consolidation. For the combined method, the VP effectively removed water from the soil for the first 12 h, and its efficiency decreased with the time. After 12 h, the intermittent EO was used to further consolidate the soil and maintain a high level of drainage rate. Test results also showed that the combined method of VP-I-ECM significantly improved the shear strength and bearing capacity of the marine clay to satisfy the construction requirements with a significant reduction in the anode erosion and the energy consumption. This research study provides useful information for the design guide and practical application of the combined technique for improving marine clay.

电渗固结 (EO) 结合真空预加载 (VP) 使用实验室测试在海洋粘土上进行了研究。为提高固结效率，减少沉降差异，设计了一种新型预制装置，将EO和VP结合进行试验。结果表明，与传统的真空预压和电渗固结相比，真空预压间歇电渗固结（VP-I-ECM）提供了更多的排水和更高的排水率，并产生了更大的土壤沉降。对于组合方法，VP 在前 12 小时内有效地去除了土壤中的水分，并且其效率随着时间的推移而降低。12 小时后，间歇性EO 用于进一步固结土壤并保持较高的排水率。试验结果还表明，VP-I-ECM组合方法显着提高了海相粘土的抗剪强度和承载力，满足施工要求，阳极冲刷和能耗显着降低。本研究为改进海相粘土组合技术的设计指导和实际应用提供了有用的信息。