Stability analysis of stone column-supported and geosynthetic-reinforced embankments on soft ground

This study focuses on the stability of stone column-supported and geosynthetic-reinforced embankments on soft soil. An upper-bound limit state plasticity failure discretization scheme (known as discontinuity layout optimization (DLO)), which determines the embankment stability without pre-assuming a slip surface, is used. The relationships between the stability of stone column-supported and geosynthetic-reinforced embankments and various influencing parameters, including the soil strength, geometric configuration, reinforcement strength, and area replacement ratio, are analysed. It is found that geosynthetics provide a significant contribution to embankment stability. Two failure mechanisms of geosynthetics (i.e., rupture failure and bond failure) are revealed and the effect of geosynthetics on embankment stability is governed by the failure mode. The application of stone columns mitigates the risk of geosynthetic failure. To provide an analytical solution for primary design in engineering practice, an approach based on the limit equilibrium method is proposed. Validations are performed with the DLO solution to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the developed analytical approach.     

Centrifuge modeling of geosynthetic-encased stone column-supported embankment over soft clay

Geosynthetic-encased stone column (GESC) has been proven as an effective alternative to reinforcing soft soils. In this paper, a series of centrifuge model tests were conducted to investigate the performance of GESC-supported embankment over soft clay by varying the stiffness of encasement material. The enhancement in the performance of stone columns encased with geosynthetic materials was quantified by comparing the test with ordinary stone columns (OSCs) under identical test conditions. The test results reveal that by encasing stone columns with geosynthetic material, a significant reduction in the ground settlement, relatively faster dissipation of excess pore pressure and enhanced stress concentration ratio was noticed. Moreover, with the increase in the encasement stiffness from 450 kN/m to 3300 kN/m, the stress concentration ratio increased from 4 to 6.5, which signifies the importance of encasement stiffness. In addition, a relatively lower value of soil arching ratio observed for GESCs compared to OSCs indicate the formation of a relatively strong soil arch in the GESC-supported embankment. Interestingly, under embankment loading, GESCs fail by bending while OSCs fail by bulging. The stress reduction method can be used to calculate the settlement of GESC-supported embankment with larger stress reduction factor than that in the OSC-supported embankment. Finally, the limitation of the construction of the embankment at 1 g was addressed.     

Deformation analysis of geosynthetic-encased stone column using cavity expansion models with emphasis on boundary condition

This paper presents a modified theoretical model to predict the deformation of geosynthetic-encased stone column (GESC) and surrounding soil, using cylindrical cavity expansion model (CEM). The model was distinguished for single GESC and GESC in groups with emphasis on the different boundary conditions. The displacement boundary of CEM was used for GESC in groups, and the stress boundary of CEM was adopted for single GESC. The plasticity development of the soil obeying the Mohr-Coulomb yielding criterion was considered. The stress and settlement of the GESC were analyzed by radial stress and vertical stress equilibrium. This method has been verified via comparison with test data and numerical simulation results. The influences of applied loading, geosynthetic encasement stiffness, and soil stiffness on the mechanical performance of the GESC and the surrounding soil have also been investigated. The proposed theoretical approaches are suitable for predicting the deformation of the GESC, and the surrounding soil. The proposed method in unit cell analysis was more reasonable for GESC in groups.     

A closed-form solution for column-supported embankments with geosynthetic reinforcement

Soil arching effect results from the non-uniform stiffness in a geosynthetic-reinforced and column-supported embankment system. However, most theoretical models ignore the impact of modulus difference on the calculation of load transfer. In this study, a generalized mathematical model is presented to investigate the soil arching effect, with consideration given to the modulus ratio between columns and the surrounding soil. For simplification, a cylindrical unit cell is drawn to study the deformation compatibility among embankment fills, geosynthetics, columns, and subsoils. A deformed shape function is introduced to describe the relationship between the column and the adjacent soil. The measured data gained from a full-scale test are applied to demonstrate the application of this model. In the parametric study, certain influencing factors, such as column spacing, column length, embankment height, modulus ratio, and tensile strength of geosynthetic reinforcement, are analyzed to investigate the performance of the embankment system. This demonstrates that the inclusion of a geosynthetic reinforcement or enlargement of the modulus ratio can increase the load transfer efficiency. When enhancing the embankment height or applying an additional loading, the height of the load transfer platform tends to be reduced. However, a relatively long column has little impact on the load transfer platform.     

Geosynthetic-encased stone columns: Analytical calculation model

This paper presents a newly developed design method for non-encased and encased stone columns. The developed analytical closed-form solution is based on previous solutions, initially developed for non-encased columns and for non-dilating rigid-plastic column material. In the present method, the initial stresses in the soil/column are taken into account, with the column considered as an elasto-plastic material with constant dilatancy, the soil as an elastic material and the geosynthetic encasement as a linear-elastic material. To check the validity of the assumptions and the ability of the method to give reasonable predictions of settlements, stresses and encasement forces, comparative elasto-plastic finite element analyses have been performed. The agreement between the two methods is very good, which was the reason that the new method was used to generate a parametric study in order to investigate various parameters, such as soil/column parameters, replacement ratio, load level and geosynthetic encasement stiffness on the behaviour of the improved ground. The results of this study show the influence of key parameters and provide a basis for the rational predictions of settlement response for various encasement stiffnesses, column arrangements and load levels. The practical use of the method is illustrated through the design chart, which enables preliminary selection of column spacing and encasement stiffness to achieve the desired settlement reduction for the selected set of the soil/column parameters.     

Performance of geosynthetic-encased stone column-improved soft clay under vertical cyclic loading

This paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation into the performance of geosynthetic-encased stone column-improved (GESC-improved) soft clay under vertical cyclic loading. A reduced-scale model is adopted to perform a series of tests considering the principal parameters, such as the cyclic loading characteristics, including the loading frequency and amplitude, and the encasement length. The results indicate that, among other things, the overall benefit of the geosynthetic encasement of stone columns installed in soft clay is greater under cyclic loading than under static loading, and that the cyclic effect tends to lead to a stress concentration ratio that is smaller than that under static loading. The effectiveness of this encasement in improving the performance of GESCs becomes greater when subjected to cyclic loading with a lower loading frequency and/or a smaller amplitude. The settlement and pore pressure variations with the encasement length, together with the exhumed GESCs taken after the tests, suggest that full encasement is necessary to maximize the performance of GESCs under cyclic loading.     

Centrifuge model tests on the deformation behavior of geosynthetic-encased stone column supported embankment under undrained condition

A series of centrifuge model tests were carried out to investigate the performance of geosynthetic-encased stone columns (GESCs) supported embankment under undrained condition. The influence of stiffness of encasement, basal reinforcement and embankment loading on the deformation behavior of GESCs were also assessed. The centrifuge test results reveal that under undrained condition, compared to ordinary stone column (OSC) supported embankment, the settlement of column has reduced by 50% and 34% when columns were encased with high and low stiffness geogrids respectively. Moreover, under identical embankment loading condition, the stress concentration ratio has increased significantly upon inclusion of basal reinforcement in the GESCs supported embankment. In case of OSCs supported embankment, columns experiences bulging in the top portion, inward bending in the central portion and a noticeable shear at the bottom portion. However, when columns were encased with geogrid layer, bulging in the top portion was significantly reduced but the inward bending of columns were noticed. With the inclusion of basal reinforcement, bending curvature of columns increases thereby inducing higher settlement in columns and relatively lesser settlement in surrounding soil. The differential settlement between the encased column and the surrounding soil under embankment loading has been considerably reduced with the inclusion of basal reinforcement.     

Influence of geosynthetic reinforcement on the stability of an embankment with rigid columns embedded in an inclined underlying stratum

Incompressible dipping substrata are commonly encountered in engineering practice. Compared to horizontal underlying strata, the inclined underlying stratum increase the risk of collapse of embankments reinforced with columns because it weakens the restraint of the column base. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of geosynthetics on improving the embankment stability when the underlying stratum is inclined. The influence of geosynthetic tensile stiffness on the ultimate surcharge and failure mechanism is studied. A deep-seated failure with column tilting occurs when the geosynthetic tensile stiffness is low, whereas a lateral sliding occurs when the geosynthetic tensile stiffness is high. To illustrate the contribution of geosynthetics, the distribution of the lateral pressures acting on the columns is analyzed.     

Improvement of soft soils using geogrid encased stone columns

In recent years, geotextile encasement has been used to extend the use of stone columns to extremely soft soils. Although the technique is now well established, little research has been undertaken on the use of other encasement materials such as geogrid. This paper discusses the results of a series of small-scale model column tests that were undertaken to investigate the behaviour of geogrid encased columns. The tests focused on studying the effect of varying the length of encasement and investigating whether a column that was partially encased with geogrid would behave similarly to a fully-encased column. In addition, isolated column behaviour was compared to group column behaviour. The results of partially encased column tests indicated a steady reduction in vertical strain with increasing encased length for both isolated columns and group columns. Bulging of the column was observed to occur directly beneath the base of the encasement. A significant increase in column stiffness and further reduction in column strain was observed for fully-encased columns, with strain reductions in the order of 80%. This range of performance may lend the techniques of partial and full geogrid encasement to a series of potential site applications.     

Critical length of encased stone columns

Encased stone columns are vertical inclusions in soft soils formed by gravel wrapped usually with a geotextile. Their critical length is the one where further lengthening of the column provides a negligible improvement and it is therefore not effective to build columns longer than it. This paper aims to obtain common values of the critical length using simplified two-dimensional axisymmetric and full three-dimensional finite element analyses. A uniform soft soil layer with a linear elastic perfectly plastic behaviour is considered for the sake of simplicity. For the studied cases, the critical column length is around 1.3–2.5 times the footing diameter for encased stone columns, and slightly lower for ordinary stone columns, namely around 1.1–1.9. The critical length of the encasement is found to be slightly lower than the critical column length. The value of the critical column length is related to the extent of plastic deformation and that may be used to decide the column length in the design phase without the need of parametric analyses. As a first approximation, a general value of the critical column length of 2 and 2.5 times the footing diameter may be considered for ordinary and encased stone columns, respectively.     

Short-term and long-term behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced stone columns

Stone columns are often used to improve the load-carrying characteristics of weak soils. In very soft soils, however, the bearing capacity of stone columns may not significantly improve the load-carrying characteristics due to the very low confinement of the surrounding soil. In such cases, encased stone columns (ESCs) or horizontally reinforced stone columns (HRSCs) may be used. Although ESCs have been studied extensively, few studies have been done on HRSCs. In addition, very limited studies are available on ESCs and HRSCs under the same conditions. Moreover, no studies have been carried out to compare the long-term and short-term behavior of HRSCs with that of ESCs. In this research, therefore, numerical analyses are performed on various types of reinforced end-bearing stone columns to compare their behavior under both long-term and short-term conditions under various loading conditions. The Advanced Modified Cam-clay model for clay and the Hardening Soil model for stone column materials are used. The results show that with proper reinforcing stone columns, in addition to a considerable reduction in settlement, the consolidation time can be greatly decreased and most of the settlement will occur during the loading period. Also, the consolidation settlement rate may be increased by using a smaller column diameter and a larger area replacement ratio for the unit cell, stiffer geosynthetic reinforcements, and greater values for the internal friction angle of the stone column materials.     

不同填料土工织物散体桩桩体单轴压缩试验

选用碎石、圆砾和砂3种填料,以及5种不同强度的聚丙烯土工编织布套筒,制备成15组尺寸为?300 mm×600mm,填料压实度?=0.9的土工织物散体桩,对桩体进行单轴压缩试验,以研究不同填料土工织物散体桩在轴向荷载作用下的强度特性。研究结果表明:不同填料桩体在单轴压缩下具有不同的破坏模式,碎石填料局部刺破编织布套筒形成较大破口,圆砾填料致套筒横向筋丝断裂、纵向筋丝分离,而砂填料致套筒横向筋丝断裂较均匀且无明显破口。桩体强度与筋材和填料强度均呈正相关关系,3种填料桩体轴向应力–应变曲线在加载初期因填料受到初始压密而略有上凹,而后近似线性增长至桩体强度,峰值强度后呈现应变软化现象;综合本文试验数据及前期所做的单轴、三轴压缩试验数据,修正了桩体强度理论计算公式,得到的桩体强度修正值与试验值吻合较好。     

Settlement performance of pad footings on soft clay supported by stone columns: A numerical study

The settlement behaviour of small loaded areas (such as pad and strip footings) on soft soil supported by stone columns is poorly understood. The lack of confinement associated with peripheral columns and the sharp stress decay with depth are features which are incompatible with the widely-used unit cell method for infinite column groups thereby rendering small group behaviour particularly difficult to analyse. Useful field data is virtually non-existent and although innovative laboratory modelling has been insightful, the findings cannot easily be extrapolated to field scale. In this study, a 3-D finite element analysis in conjunction with an elastic–plastic soil model is used to identify the effect of variables in the design process and interactions between them: these include column arrangement, spacing, length, and Young׳s modulus of the column material. A simplified method is proposed to relate the settlement of small groups to a reference unit cell settlement predicted by current analytical approaches.     

Performance of polypropylene textile encased stone columns

This paper explores the potential use of a woven polypropylene textile for encapsulating stone columns and improving performance of a local soft soil in Warangal city of India. A series of axial load tests were performed on stone columns of various diameters and under various encapsulation conditions that include single and double layers and other combinations. Load carrying capacity of stone column increased twice its original capacity when encapsulated with different geofabric materials. Performance enhancement strongly correlated to the tensile strength of encasement material and encapsulation condition. In addition, the influence of lateral thrust on group of stone columns arranged in square and triangular patterns were investigated. Irrespective of the material used, lateral displacement reduced by half for encased stone columns. Apart from tensile strength of encasing material, the amount of material used for encasement in the form of additional encasement layer was found to be crucial. The cost of using the polypropylene encasing material is only a third of the commercial geotextiles; however, the performance is inferior to woven geotextiles but far superior to non-woven geotextiles.     

Construction of geogrid encased stone columns: A new proposal based on laboratory testing

Geogrid encasement has recently been investigated to provide an alternative and perhaps stiffer option to the now established method of geotextile encased columns (GECs). To construct geogrid encasement, the geogrid is typically rolled into a sleeve and welded using a specialized welding frame. However, the process is unlikely to be economical for site construction and therefore an alternative method of encasement construction was investigated in this paper. The technique comprises overlapping the geogrid encasement by a nominal amount and relying on interlock between the stone aggregate and section of overlap to provide a level of fixity similar to welding. A series of small-scale tests were initially used to investigate the technique, followed by medium-scale compression tests using different geogrids and typical stone column aggregates. The results of testing indicate that the “method of overlap” provides a simple and effective method of encasement construction, providing a level of fixity similar to welding. A full circumference of overlap should generally be adopted to achieve adequate fixity. Biaxial geogrids are best suited to the technique, with increased encasement stiffness resulting in increased column capacity and column stiffness. Higher strength geogrids are also more robust, providing a greater resistance to cutting from pieces of angular crushed rock. Site trials are recommended for final confirmation of the technique.     

Fully coupled solution for the consolidation of poroelastic soil around geosynthetic encased stone columns

The paper presents an extension of a recently developed fully coupled elastoplastic method (Pulko and Logar, 2016) for the analysis of a poroelastic thick-walled soil cylinder around an elastoplastic end-bearing stone column to account for the influence of an elastic geosynthetic encasement. The method was developed in the framework of Biot's consolidation theory (Biot, 1941) and is based on a unit cell concept, wherein the column encasement is modeled as a thin elastic membrane, which can only sustain tension and acts in the radial direction. Analytical closed-form expressions for excess pore pressures, stresses, strains, displacements and encasement forces were derived in the Laplace domain. The final elastoplastic solution in time domain was obtained numerically by using efficient numerical scheme for the inverse Laplace transform. The validity of the solution was checked against finite element analyses and compared with previously developed analytical methods. The results showing the influence of column encasement on transient state of settlements, strains, excess pore pressures and encasement forces under instantaneous or time dependent load are presented and discussed.     

Groups of encased stone columns: Influence of column length and arrangement

This paper presents a set of systematic 2D and 3D finite element analyses that study the performance of groups of encased stone columns beneath a rigid footing. Those numerical analyses show that, if the area replacement ratio, i.e. area of the columns over area of the footing, and the ratio of encasement stiffness to column diameter are kept constant, the column arrangement (both number of columns and column position) has a small influence on the settlement reduction achieved with the treatment. For high encasement stiffnesses, placing the column near the footing edges may be slightly more beneficial reducing the settlement; on the contrary, the maximum hoop force at the encasement is notably higher. Based on the minor influence of column arrangement, this paper proposes a new simplified approach to study groups of encased stone columns, which involves converting all the columns of the group beneath the footing in just one central column with an equivalent area and encasement stiffness. This simplified model is used to conclude that, for settlement reduction and fully encased columns in a homogeneous soil, there is a column critical length of around two or three times the footing width. The critical length of the encasement for partially encased columns is slightly lower than that of the fully encased columns.     

Influence of geotextile encasement on the behaviour of stone columns: Laboratory study

This paper presents a study of the influence of the geotextile encasement on the behaviour of soft soils improved with fully penetrating encased columns. This influence is analysed by means of measuring soil-column stress distribution, pore pressures and soil deformation during the consolidation process. For this purpose, a horizontal slice of a representative “unit cell” has been analysed by means of small-scale laboratory tests. The tests were carried out in a large instrumented Rowe-Barden oedometric cell. Results showed that the vertical stress supported by encased columns is about 1.7 times that sustained by the non-encased ones. The stress concentration factor for encased columns is between 11 and 25, which is clearly higher than that obtained in tests with non-encased columns, which are between 3 and 6. Finally, the improvement in relation to settlements is presented by the ratio of settlement in soils reinforced with ordinary or encased columns and the settlement of non-treated soft soil. This settlement reduction factor is around 0.6 when the soil is treated with encased columns and 0.8 for soil with non-encased columns.