Analytical and Experimental Studies on Cemented Stone Columns for Soft Clay Ground Improvement
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper reports a novel concept of ground improvement technique using cemented stone columns for improvement of the soft clay ground. The experimental investigations and analytical studies led to evolution of the technology of soft ground improvement using such stone columns almost to the fullest extent. The study included the following aspects: relative degree of effectiveness of cemented stone columns over other reported approaches, theoretical analysis for predicting the ultimate load-carrying capacity of soft clay ground treated with cemented stone columns, analysis to estimate the probable short- and long-term settlements of a given structure founded on the treated ground under the applied foundation pressure intensity, and an illustrative design problem using this technology. The failure mode and the load-transfer mechanism for this system were conceptualized on the basis of the unit-cell concept. The mathematical formulation resulted in equations enabling quantitative evaluation of the required design aspects related to the actual design of cemented stone column–soft clay systems.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The assistance rendered by R. Gautam, V. Satyanarayana, Ch. S. S. V. Raju, R. P. Kinikar, and M. N. Chute in the laboratory investigation is highly acknowledged. The comments and suggestions of the three peer reviewers enabled the authors to greatly improve the presentation and the technical quality of the paper.
References
Alamgir, M., Miura, N., Poorooshasb, H. B., and Madhav, M. R. (1996). “Deformation analysis of soft ground reinforced by columnar inclusions.” Comput. Geotech., 18(4), 267–290.
Al-Saoudi, N. K. S., Rahil, F., and Abbawi, Z. (2015). “Soft soil improved by stone columns and/or ballast layer.” Ground Improv., 168(3), 179–186.
Babu, M. R. D., Shivshankar, R., Nayak, S. S., and Majid, J. A. (2010). “Load settlement behavior of stone column with circumferential nails.” Proc., Indian Geotechnical Conf. 2010, B. V. S. Vishwanadham and D. Choudhury, eds., Vol. 2, MacMillan, New Delhi, India, 579–582.
Barksdale, R. D., and Bachus, R. C. (1983). “Design and construction of stone columns.” FHWA Rep. No. RD. 83/026, Vol. 1, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). (1970). “Classification and identification of soils for general engineering purposes.” BIS-1498, New Delhi, India.
Castro, J. (2014). “Numerical modelling of stone columns beneath a rigid footing.” Comput. Geotech., 60, 77–87.
Castro, J., Karstunen, M., and Sivasithamparam, N. (2014). “Influence of stone column installation on settlement reduction.” Comput. Geotech., 59, 87–97.
Chen, J. F., Li, L. Y., Xue, J. F., and Feng, S. Z. (2015). “Failure mechanism of geosynthetic-encased stone columns in soft soils under embankment.” Geotext. Geomembr., 43(5), 424–431.
Das, A. K., and Deb, K. (2014). “Modeling of uniformly loaded circular raft resting on stone column-improved ground.” Soils Found., 54(6), 1212–1224.
Datye, K. R., and Nagaraju, S. S. (1977). “Installation and testing of rammed stone columns.” Proc., 5th Asian Regional Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, McGraw-Hill, New York, Vol. 1, 101–104.
Deb, K. (2010). “A mathematical model to study the soil arching effect in stone column-supported embankment resting on soft foundation soil.” Appl. Math. Modell., 34(12), 3871–3883.
Deb, K., Basudhar, P. K., and Chandra, S. (2010). “Extensible geosynthetics and stone-column-reinforced soil.” Ground Improv., 163(4), 231–236.
Deb, K., Samadhiya, N. K., and Jagtap, B. N. (2011). “Laboratory model studies on unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced sand bed over stone column-improved soft clay.” Geotext. Geomembr., 29(2), 190–196.
Duncan, J. M., and Chang, C. Y. (1970). “Non-linear analysis of stress and strain in soil.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 96(5), 1629–1653.
Dutta, S., Padade, A. H., and Mandal, J. N. (2012). “Experimental study on natural bamboo geogrid encased stone column.” Proc., 5th Asian Regional Conf. on Geosynthetics, Geosynthetics Asia 2012, Indian Geosynthetics Society, New Delhi, 417–426.
Farouk, A., and Shahien, M. M. (2013). “Ground improvement using soil–cement columns: Experimental investigation.” Alexandria Eng. J., 52(4), 733–740.
Fattah, M. Y., Shlash, K. T., and Al-Waily, M. J. (2013). “Experimental evaluation of stress concentration ratio of model stone columns strengthened by additives.” Int. J. Phys. Model. Geotech., 13(3), 79–79.
Gniel, J., and Bouazza, A. (2008). “Improvement of soft soil using geogrid encased stone column.” Geotext. Geomembr., 27(3), 167–175.
Golait, Y. S., Satyanarayana, V., and Raju, S. S. V. (2009). “Concept of under reamed cemented stone columns for soft clay ground improvement.” Proc., Indian Geotechnical Conf. 2009, Vol. 1, Allied, Mumbai, India, 356–360.
Gueguin, M., Hassen, G., and de Buhan, P. (2015). “Stability analysis of homogenized stone column reinforced foundations using a numerical yield design approach.” Comput. Geotech., 64, 10–19.
Hanna, A., Etezad, M., and Ayadat, T. (2013). “Mode of failure of a group of stone columns in soft soil.” Int. J. Geomech., 87–96.
Hassen, G., Gueguin, M., and de Buhan, P. (2013). “A homogenization approach for assessing the yield strength properties of stone column reinforced soils.” Eur. J. Mech. A. Solids, 37, 266–280.
Hughes, J. M. O., and Withers, N. J. (1974). “Reinforcing of soft cohesive soils with stone columns.” Ground Eng., 7(3), 42–49.
Jamsawang, P., Voottipruex, P., Boathong, P., Mairaing, W., and Horpibulsuk, S. (2015). “Three-dimensional numerical investigation on lateral movement and factor of safety of slopes stabilized with deep cement mixing column rows.” Eng. Geol., 188, 159–167.
Juran, I., and Riccobono, O. (1991). “Reinforcing soft soils with artificially cemented compacted sand columns.” J. Geotech. Eng., 1042–1060.
Killeen, M. M., and McCabe, B. A. (2014). “Settlement performance of pad footings on soft clay supported by stone columns: A numerical study.” Soils Found., 54(4), 760–776.
Madhav, M. R. (1983). “Recent developments in the use and analysis of granular piles.” Proc., Int. Symp. on Recent Developments in Ground Improvement Techniques, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 117–129.
Maher, M. H., and Gray, D. H. (1990). “Static response of sand reinforced with randomly distributed fibres.” J. Geotech. Eng., 1661–1677.
Mayerhof, G. G. (1951). “The ultimate bearing capacity of foundations.” Géotechnique, 2(4), 301–331.
Mitchell, J., and Huber, T. (1985). “Performance of a stone column foundation.” J. Geotech. Eng., 205–223.
Murugesan, S., and Rajagopal, K. (2006). “Geosynthetic-encased stone columns: Numerical evaluation.” Geotext. Geomembr., 24(6), 349–358.
Ng, K. S., and Tan, S. A. (2014). “Design and analyses of floating stone columns.” Soils Found., 54(3), 478–487.
Nayak, S., Shivashankar, R., and Babu, M. R. D. (2011). “Performance of stone columns with circumferential nails.” Ground Improv., 164(2), 97–106.
Prandtl, L. (1920). Uber die Harte Plastischer Korper, Nachrichten van der Koniglichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, Berlin, 74–85.
Raithel, M., Kempfert, H. G., and Kirchner, A. (2002). “Geotextile-encased columns for foundation as a dike on very soft soils.” Proc., 7th Int. Conf. on Geosynthetics, Indian Geosynthetics Society, New Delhi, India.
Ranjan, G., and Rao, B. G. (1983). “Skirted granular piles for ground improvement.” Proc., 8th European Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Rao, N. B. S., and Nayak, I. G. (1995). “Model studies on partially confined sand columns using geogrid tubes.” Indian Geotech. J., 25(3), 365–378.
Samadhiya, N. K., Maheshwari, P., Basu, P., and Kumar, M. B. (2008). “Load settlement characteristics of granular piles with randomly mixed fibres.” Proc., Indian Geotechnical Conf. 2008, Vol. 3, Indian Geosynthetics Society, New Delhi, India, 345–354.
Shahu, J., and Reddy, Y. (2011). “Clayey soil reinforced with stone column group: Model tests and analyses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1265–1274.
Skempton, A. W. (1951). The bearing capacity of clays, Building Research Congress, Institute of Civil Engineers sDiv-I, London.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics, John Wiley and Sons, New York, Inc., 118–143.
Yoo, C. (2010). “Performance of geosynthetic-encased stone columns in embankment construction: Numerical investigation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1148–1160.
Yoo, C. (2015). “Settlement behavior of embankment on geosynthetic-encased stone column installed soft ground—A numerical investigation.” Geotext. Geomembr., 43(6), 484–492.
Zhang, L., and Zhao, M. (2014). “Deformation analysis of geotextile-encased stone columns.” Int. J. Geomech., 04014053.
Zhang, L., Zhao, M., Shi, C., and Zhao, H. (2013). “Settlement calculation of composite foundation reinforced with stone columns.” Int. J. Geomech., 248–256.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17 • Issue 4 • April 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 2, 2015
Accepted: Jun 30, 2016
Published online: Sep 12, 2016
Discussion open until: Feb 12, 2017
Published in print: Apr 1, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.