Response in Seabed of Finite Depth with Variable Permeability

Abstract

Conventional investigations of the wave-seabed interaction have assumed that the seabed has an uniform permeability. However, the soil permeability in most marine sediments varies with burial depth due to consolidation under overburden pressure. Here an analytical solution describing the short-crested wave-induced soil response in a seabed with variable permeability is derived. The soil matrix considered here is hydraulically anisotropic and of finite thickness. The wave-induced soil response is obtained from a set of governing equations incorporating a variable permeability. The results indicate that the soil response is affected significantly by variable permeability. The influences of soil characteristics on the relative differences in pore pressure between the solutions for variable and uniform permeability are detailed.