Effect of stone column installation on soft clay behavior

Abstract

Installing a system of stone columns is a common ground improvement technique used in soft clay. The wished-in-place concept is usually applied to predict the load-settlement behavior of the treated ground. In this approach, the effect of the installation process on the properties of the surrounding soil is neglected. High radial displacements of the soil particles associated with the installation process of the stone columns, to achieve their target diameter, significantly alter the surrounding soil properties and affect the overall performance of the improved soil. This work aims to numerically study the influence of the stone column construction process on the improvement of soft ground by utilizing the finite element method. Different radial excitations have been considered in the analyses to mimic the construction procedure. Aspects of the two- and three-dimensional numerical analyses are combined in this study to overcome the local numerical instabilities.