j Nazari Afshar - Department of Civil Engineering, Islamic Azad University – Shahr Qods branch,Tehran, Iran,

Construction of roads, railways and other engineering structures on soft soils usually involves problems such as excessive settlements, deformations and stability. Stone-columns are a useful method for enhance the foundation for such problems. The stone columns derive their loadcapacity from the confinement offered by the surrounding soil. In very soft soils, this lateral confinement may not be adequate and the formation of the stone column itself may be doubtful. Wrapping the individual stone columns with suitable geosynthetic is one of the ideal forms of improving the performance of stone columns. This paper attempts to determine the effect of stone column characteristics under dynamic loads. For this purpose, numerical method based on finite elements is used. Parametric study will be presented to illustrate the role of cycle and frequency effect of loads, stone column material, and reinforcement on load-settlement behavior of shallow foundations reinforced with stone columns.

Stone Column, Bearing Capacity, Finite Element Method