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Factors Affecting the Settlement Estimation of Stone Column Reinforced Soils

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Abstract

The ground improvement technique of stone columns has been effectively used over the last decades in order to accelerate the consolidation rate of soft soils by providing a drainage path, reduce foundation settlements, improve the bearing capacity of the soil, and limit the risk of liquefaction due to seismic activity. Because of the time consumption of a three dimensional (3D) calculation, most stone column projects are presently studied by axisymmetric finite element computations. Otherwise, it is the analytical method of Priebe that is commonly used to predict the final settlements of a single stone column and the corresponding settlement reduction factor. Both methods, axisymmetric finite element analysis and Priebe’s analytical method make use of the axisymmetric theory of unit cell. The main objective of this study is to examine and compare the three dimensional response of stone column reinforced soils with the axisymmetric analysis results. A proposed analytical method, governed by the failure mechanism of a cylindrical cone is also presented. The comparison between these different approaches is studied and evaluated in conjunction with in situ measurements. It is proved that the beneficial effect of this ground improvement technique, especially on the foundation soil with the lower strength characteristics, is more pronounced. Also, it is concluded that due to unit cell theory, the settlement reduction factor is usually under predicted and the failure of the composite system is impossible, even under high applied pressures. The proposed analytical method of the cylindrical cone failure mechanism is proved to be in good agreement with the 3D results.

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Abbreviations

A:

Unit cell area

Ac :

Single stone column area

B:

Foundation width

cu :

Undrained shear strength of the soil

dc :

Stone column diameter

E:

Elastic modulus

Ec :

Elastic modulus of the column

Es :

Elastic modulus of the soil

H:

Column length

hcritical1 :

Depth of maximum stone column bulge

hcritical2 :

Depth where the granular material reaches the elastic zone

kαc :

Active column pressure coefficient

kos :

Lateral earth soil pressure coefficient at rest

kpc :

Passive column pressure coefficient

n:

Stress concentration ratio

q:

Applied pressure

R = Rc + ΔRc :

The increased radius of the column Rc by ΔRc

s:

Stone column center-to-center spacing

sc,elastic :

Stone column settlements in elastic zone

sc,plastic :

Stone column settlements in plastic zone

sf :

Settlements after improvement

so :

Settlements before improvement

uo :

Initial pore pressure

αs :

Area replacement factor

β:

Settlement reduction factor

γ:

Unit weight

γ′s :

Effective soil unit weight

γw :

Water unit weight

v:

Poisson’s ratio

vs :

Soil Poisson’s ratio

σ′h,s :

Radial effective soil stress after consolidation process

σ′h,smax :

Limiting radial effective stress of soil

σ′h,so :

Initial radial effective soil stress

σc :

Distributed stone column vertical stress

σ′h,c :

Horizontal effective column stress

σ′v,c :

Vertical effective column stress

φ:

Friction angle

φc :

Friction angle of the gravel

φ′s :

Friction angle of the soil

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geotechnical Department, School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, 157 80, Zografou, Greece

    Panagiotis Andreou & Vassilis Papadopoulos

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  1. Panagiotis Andreou
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  2. Vassilis Papadopoulos
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Correspondence to Panagiotis Andreou.

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Andreou, P., Papadopoulos, V. Factors Affecting the Settlement Estimation of Stone Column Reinforced Soils. Geotech Geol Eng 32, 1175–1185 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-014-9788-x

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