Bearing Capacity of Stone Columns Considering the Stress Level Effect

Stone column, made up of coarse-grained particles, is recognized as an efficient method for ground improvement having several benefits such as: increasing the bearing capacity, reducing the settlement, increasing the rate of consolidation, and mitigating of liquefaction potential. It is also known that the stress level has a significant effect on the shear strength behavior of soils. The present investigation utilizes the finite element limit analysis (FELA) technique to determine the critical slenderness ratio and bearing capacity of stone column embedded in clay, adopting a stress level-dependent failure criterion for the material constituting the stone column. A parametric investigation was conducted to assess the influence of the natural clay's undrained shear strength, the slenderness ratio, and the relative density and critical state friction angle of the stone column on its bearing capacity. It was found that the relative density of stone column's material did not have any considerable effect on the normalized bearing capacity for the punching mechanism. However, the normalized bearing capacity for the bulging mechanism increased with the increase in the material's relative density. Equations were also presented and examined to predict the critical slenderness ratio and the normalized bearing capacity for punching and bulging mechanisms.

کلیدواژه ها:

Stone column ، Bearing capacity ، Finite element limit analysis ، Stress level