Aiming at the foundation consolidation problem of vertical drains under vacuum preloading,considering the influence of nonlinear of foundation soil and the parabolic variation on the horizontal permeability coefficient of the smearing area and loading changes with time,we derive a general solution of vertical drain consolidation under vacuum preloading,and verify the rationality of the analytical solution by the study of degradation and comparative analysis.Based on this general solution,we obtain the corresponding special solutions of two special loading modes for instantaneous loading and linear loading,compile the calculation program,and draw the curves of the consolidation process of the vacuum preloading vertical drain according to the special solution.The results show that the nonlinear of foundation has a great effect on the consolidation characteristics.The greater the ratio of the compressibility index to the horizontal permeability index is,the slower the consolidation rate of the foundation is.The greater the initial stress is,the faster the consolidation rate of the soil is.The vertical drain pore pressure dissipation rate under linear loading is slower than that of the instantaneous loading.