This study aimed to address some basic issues about an air-boosting vacuum consolidation. Through theoretical analysis, it has been clarified that air-boosting pressure is not a consolidation pressure, and the efforts for developing a consolidation theory considering the effect of air-boosting pressure are unnecessary ones. Air-boosting can cause pneumatic fracturing in a soil mass, and equations for estimating the minimum air pressure required have been newly derived based on cavity expansion theories. Then, effects of air-boosting on a vacuum consolidation have been identified as: de-structuring, dewatering, and mitigating apparent clogging around drains. Then, by analyzing some published data of laboratory model tests using clay slurries, it is shown that mitigating apparent clogging contributed to about 30%–60% of the effect of air-boosting (increase settlement), and other part could be the effect of dewatering. Increase air pressure and duration of air-boosting had positive effects on both mitigating apparent clogging and dewatering, but might be more effect on dewatering.

中文翻译：

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充气机理及其对真空固结的影响

本研究旨在解决有关空气增压真空固结的一些基本问题。通过理论分析，明确了充气压力不是固结压力，建立考虑充气压力影响的固结理论是不必要的。空气增压会导致土体中的气动破裂，并且根据空腔膨胀理论新推导了估计所需最小气压的方程。然后，空气增压对真空固结的影响被确定为：解构、脱水和减轻排水管周围的明显堵塞。然后，通过分析一些已发表的使用粘土浆的实验室模型试验数据，表明减轻明显堵塞对空气增压（增加沉降）效果的贡献约为30%~60%，其他部分可能是脱水。增加气压和增压持续时间对减轻明显的堵塞和脱水都有积极的影响，但对脱水的影响可能更大。