# An Investigation into the Influence of Sample Height on the Consolidation Behaviour of Dredged Silt
## 4 Conclusions  
1. The compression process of dredged silt samples of varying heights progressed through three distinct stages: small load disturbance, elastic deformation, and plastic deformation. During the small load disturbance stage, there was a minimal difference in the void ratio variations among samples of different heights. However, as one progressed through the elastic and plastic deformation stages, the rate of void ratio variation diminished with an increase in the initial height of the samples.
2. As the initial height of the dredged silt samples increased, both the cumulative stable strain and the compression index showed a decline. The structural strength of the soil primarily hinged on the attributes, interconnections, and spatial arrangement of the soil particles. Consequently, the initial height of the sample exerted a minimal influence on the structural yield stress of the dredged silt.
3. For dredged silt samples of different heights, the consolidation coefficient escalated with rising consolidation pressure, peaking at the structural yield stress. As the sample height increased, the consolidation coefficient of the dredged silt diminished. Therefore, the potential influence of the size effect on the consolidation coefficient warrants further exploration.
4. At lower consolidation pressures (typical preloading ranges), the consolidation coefficient of dredged silt was significantly lower than that of marine silt. However, as the consolidation pressure intensified, the disparity between the two decreased.  
Figure 11: The variation of the permeability coefficient of three kinds of silt.  
This observation suggests that, after a high preloading regimen, dredged silt might achieve, or even match, the drainage consolidation rate intrinsic to marine silt.
* The permeability coefficient of dredged silt contracted with increasing consolidation pressure, experiencing a 10-fold reduction within standard preloading loads. Consequently, employing a consistent permeability coefficient for projecting its consolidation settlement process could introduce substantial errors. Given the observable differences in particle composition and pore dynamics between dredged and marine silt, it is evident that under low consolidation pressures, the permeability coefficient of dredged silt exceeded that of marine silt.  
The authors confirm their contributions to the paper as follows: methodology, M.Z. and R.H.; formal analysis, M.Z. and R.H.; investigation, [PERSON] and J.W.; resources, [PERSON] and J.W.; data curation, M.Z. and R.H.; writing--original draft preparation, R.H.; writing--review and editing, [PERSON] and R.H.; supervision, [PERSON]; project administration, [PERSON]; funding acquisition, [PERSON] and [PERSON]. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the Science and Technology Project of Henan Province of China (Grant No.182102310003) and the Program of Guangdong Nonferrous Metals Engineering Investigation Design Institute of Guangdong Province of China (Grant No. GDYSSZ2021-0001).  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.