Geosynthetic-encased stone columns: Numerical evaluation

Stone columns (or granular piles) are increasingly being used for ground improvement, particularly for flexible structures such as road embankments, oil storage tanks, etc. When the stone columns are installed in extremely soft soils, the lateral confinement offered by the surrounding soil may not be adequate to form the stone column. Consequently, the stone columns installed in such soils will not be able to develop the required load-bearing capacity. In such soils, the required lateral confinement can be induced by encasing the stone columns with a suitable geosynthetic. The encasement, besides increasing the strength and stiffness of the stone column, prevents the lateral squeezing of stones when the column is installed even in extremely soft soils, thus enabling quicker and more economical installation. This paper investigates the qualitative and quantitative improvement in load capacity of the stone column by encasement through a comprehensive parametric study using the finite element analysis. It is found from the analyses that the encased stone columns have much higher load carrying capacities and undergo lesser compressions and lesser lateral bulging as compared to conventional stone columns. The results have shown that the lateral confining stresses developed in the stone columns are higher with encasement. The encasement at the top portion of the stone column up to twice the diameter of the column is found to be adequate in improving its load carrying capacity. As the stiffness of the encasement increases, the lateral stresses transferred to the surrounding soil are found to decrease. This phenomenon makes the load capacity of encased columns less dependent on the strength of the surrounding soil as compared to the ordinary stone columns.     

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.     

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.     

Consolidation of soft clay foundation improved by geosynthetic-reinforced granular columns: Numerical evaluation

Soft clays are problematic soils as they present high compressibility and low shear strength. There are several methods for improving in situ conditions of soft clays. Based on the geotechnical problem's geometry and characteristics, the in situ conditions may require reinforcement to restrain instability and construction settlements. Granular columns reinforced by geosynthetic material are widely used to reduce settlements of embankments on soft clays. They also accelerate the consolidation rate by reducing the drainage path's length and increasing the foundation soil's bearing capacity. In this study, the performance of encased and layered granular columns in soft clay is investigated and discussed. The numerical results show the significance of geosynthetic stiffness and the column length on the embankment settlements. Furthermore, the results show that granular columns may play an important role in dissipating the excess pore water pressures and accelerating the consolidation settlements of embankments on soft clays.     

Numerical modelling and validation of geosynthetic encased columns in soft soils with installation effect

If the bearing capacity of the soil is not sufficient an improvement method has to be considered. In case of soft and cohesive soils the vibroreplacement technique can be used. This paper describes the numerical simulation of a group of encased granular columns under an embankment based on a real life project situated to the north of Hamburg, Germany. The soft soil creep model and the hardening soil model were used to model the behaviour of the soft clay and granular material respectively. The material parameters were determined based on laboratory tests conducted on test samples from the field. The installation effect of columns in numerically modelled based on the cavity expansion method in a 2D axis symmetric model. The results of the installation effect in terms of stress state changes in the soft soil after complete consolidation are then imported to the 3D model involving group of columns. The results of the numerical simulations are validated against field measurement data in form of vertical settlement of the ground at various locations with respect to time and horizontal deformations in the encased columns with depth.     

深层搅拌桩周围粘土性质变化的发生机理

排土型桩如打入桩、砂桩、石灰桩以及深层搅拌桩等的施工都会引起桩周围土体的应力变化,因此周围土体的性质也将发生变化。施工完成后,周围土体的强度将经历下降、恢复和增长的过程。深层搅拌桩施工对周围土体的作用可以归纳为以下7个方面:(1)叶片的搅拌和固化剂的注入对周围土体的扰动作用;(2)软粘土的触变性;(3)施工期间周围土体的劈裂;(4)桩身水泥浆通过劈裂裂缝向周围土体中流入及由扩散作用渗入到土的孔隙中;(5)孔隙水中钙离子浓度增加引起的胶结作用;(6)超静孔隙水压力消散引起的固结作用;(7)水和作用和火山灰反应等化学作用产生的热作用。通过室内试验和理论分析来研究这些影响因素。室内试验主要研究土的触变性、土的劈裂和水泥浆扩散对软弱有明粘土的影响。理论分析则解释了土体的劈裂现象。室内试验可以直接观测到土体劈裂和水泥浆扩散现象。对于软弱有明粘土,试验结果显示周围土体的强度在70d内由触变性得到恢复。理论分析发现即使在很小的固化剂注入压力作用下,周围土体也会发生劈裂现象。     

Uniaxial compression behavior of geotextile encased stone columns

The bearing capacity and failure mechanism of encased stone columns are affected by many factors such as encasement length, relative density, strength and stiffness of the encasement material. In soft soils where surrounding soil pressure is low, especially in the top section, the stone columns may be close to a uniaxial compression state, where the uniaxial compression strength controls the bearing capacity of the stone columns. A series of large-scale triaxial tests on ordinary stone columns and uniaxial tests on geotextile encased stone columns have been performed. The stone columns were 300?mm in diameter and 600?mm in height. Samples of four different relative densities, and five types of geotextiles were used in the tests to study the effect of initial void ratio and encasing materials on the uniaxial compression behavior of the stone columns. The results show the uniaxial compressive strength of the encased stone columns is not affected by the initial void ratio but mainly by the tensile strength of the encasing geotextiles. The stress strain curves of the encased stone columns under uniaxial loading condition are nearly liner before failure, which is similar to the tensile behavior of the geotextiles.     

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.     

Analytical solutions for geosynthetic-encased stone column-supported embankments with emphasis on nonlinear behaviours of columns

This paper presents an analytical approach to predict the behaviours of geosynthetic-encased stone column (GESC)-supported embankments. The soil arching in the embankment and the nonlinear behaviours of stone columns are considered. Based on nonlinear elastic and elastoplastic constitutive models of stone columns, the nonlinear behaviours of GESCs, including settlement and radial deformation, are analysed. The deformations of GESCs, the surrounding soil, and the overlying embankment fill are compatible by applying stress continuity and volume deformation continuity at the bottom of the embankment fill. This method is verified via comparison with literature data and numerical analysis. The influences of parameters of the GESC, including encasement stiffness and column friction, on the performance of the embankment are investigated. Without considering the nonlinear behaviours of the column, the column-soil stress ratio is overestimated. It is more appropriate that the nonlinear characters of the column be considered in the analysis of GESC-supported embankments.     

Shaking table tests on geosynthetic encased columns in soft clay

This paper presents the results of an experimental research on the behavior of geosynthetic encased stone columns and ordinary stone columns embedded in soft clay under dynamic base shaking. For this purpose, a novel laminar box is designed and developed to run a total of eight sets of 1-G shaking table tests on four different model soil profiles: Soft clay bed, ordinary stone column installed clay bed, and clay beds with geosynthetic encased columns with two different reinforcement stiffnesses. The geosynthetic encased columns are heavily instrumented with strain rosettes to quantify the reinforcement strains developing under the action of dynamic loads. The responses of the columns are studied through the deformation modes of the encased columns and the magnitude and distribution of reinforcement strains under dynamic loading. The response of the granular inclusion enhanced soft subsoil and embankment soil and the identification of the dynamic soil properties of the entire soil body are also discussed in this article. Finally, to determine the effect of dynamic loading on the vertical load carrying capacity, stress-controlled column load tests are undertaken both on seismically loaded and undisturbed columns.     

路堤荷载下土工织物散体桩复合地基离心模型试验

进行了2组不同筋材刚度土工织物散体桩复合地基路堤离心模型试验,和1组碎石桩复合地基路堤的对比试验,以研究其在真实应力条件下的性状及稳定性。研究结果表明:随着筋材刚度的增大,地基中的超孔隙水压力略有减小,桩顶和桩间土沉降明显减小,而桩顶和桩间土之间的差异沉降明显增大;桩土应力比随筋材刚度的增大先增长明显,而后趋于缓慢;当筋材刚度较低或上覆荷载很大时,土工织物散体桩可发生显著的弯曲变形而引起较大的沉降,碎石桩则在软土中容易发生鼓胀变形而引起很大的沉降,但两者均未在复合地基中形成剪切滑移的趋势。     

Bearing capacity of geogrid reinforced sand over encased stone columns in soft clay

Stone columns develop their load carrying capacity from the circumferential confinement provided by the surrounding soils. In very soft soils, the circumferential confinement offered by the surrounding soft soil may not be sufficient to develop the required load carrying capacity. Hence a vertical confinement would yield a better result. The load carrying capacity is further increased with the addition of a sand bed over the stone columns. In the present study, a series of laboratory model tests on an unreinforced sand bed (USB) and a geogrid-reinforced sand bed (GRSB) placed over a group of vertically encased stone columns (VESC) floating in soft clay and their numerical simulations were conducted. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed using a finite element package ABAQUS 6.12. In the finite element analysis, geogrid and geotextile were modeled as an elasto-plastic material. As compared to unreinforced clay bed, an 8.45 fold increase in bearing capacity was observed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. The optimum thickness of USB and GRSB was found to be 0.2 times and 0.15 times the diameter of the footing. A considerable decrease in bulging of columns was also noticed with the provision of a GRSB over VESC. Both the improvement factor and stress concentration ratio of VESC with GRSB showed an increasing trend with an increase in the settlement. It was observed that the optimum length of stone columns and the optimum depth of encasement of the group of floating VESC with GRSB are 6 times and about 3 times the diameter of the column respectively.     

Seismic behavior of geosynthetic encased columns and ordinary stone columns

This study is concerned with evaluating and comparing the behavior of geosynthetic encased stone columns (GECs) and ordinary (conventional) stone columns (OSCs) during and after seismic excitations. For this purpose, well instrumented GECs and OSCs are installed in kaolinite clay beds consolidated in a large steel tank. In order to simulate the seismic behavior of columns supporting an embankment, surcharge loads are applied and the experimental setup is subjected to large-scale shaking table tests. The strains in the encasement are measured by making use of water-proof strain gauges during the course of the experiments. The vertical load capacities of GECs and OSCs after the seismic excitation were measured by a series of stress controlled column load tests. The experimental data at hand suggests that under the action of seismic loads there is a significant strain demand on the encasement confining the GECs. An almost linear relationship between the seismic energy input expressed in terms of IA (Arias Intensity) and reinforcement strain amplitude is observed. GECs in general have exhibited a superior performance both under static and seismic loads when compared to OSCs.     

On the shear failure mode of granular column embedded unit cells subjected to static and cyclic shear loads

Since the initial conception of geosynthetic encased columns (GECs), exhaustion of column capacity due to vertical loads in bulging and punching failure modes were readily recognized. This lead to a vast majority of the available research on GECs to be about the behavior of columns under the action of vertical loads. Recently, two other likely and perhaps more dominant failure modes for granular columns namely, shear and bending failure modes, were identified. The purpose of this paper is to study the behavior of unit cells containing ordinary stone columns (OSCs) and GECs under static and cyclic lateral loads where shear failure of the column is imminent. 1-g physical tests are conducted with a novel apparatus, designated as Unit Cell Shear Device (UCSD), to model the behavior of the unit cells located close to the toe of an embankment where OSCs and GECs experience significant lateral loading. Overall failure envelope and strength parameters for GECs with varying reinforcement stiffnesses are quantified under static and cyclic lateral loading conditions. The distribution and magnitude of reinforcement strains in horizontal (hoop) and vertical direction of the columns are also considered.     

竖向土工加筋体对碎石桩承载变形影响的模型试验研究

在碎石桩桩顶一定深度内包裹竖向土工加筋体形成筋箍碎石桩,能有效提高碎石桩的承载能力,控制复合地基沉降量。采用分级加载方式,设计并完成了两组较大比例室内模型试验,对比分析了筋箍碎石桩和传统碎石桩的承载变形特性,进而探讨了筋箍碎石桩的加筋机理和鼓胀变形模式,重点分析了竖向土工加筋体的应力应变特征。分析结果表明：竖向土工加筋体能有效约束碎石桩的侧向鼓胀,在微小侧向变形内提供足够的径向约束应力;筋箍碎石桩的最大鼓胀变形多发生于加筋体以下区域,其破坏模式与筋体材料、桩体、桩周土体及其相互作用和协调变形密切相关;筋箍碎石桩的桩顶和桩底桩土应力比均明显大于传统碎石桩,上部土工加筋体在提高桩体刚度的同时,可有效地将上部荷载传递至桩底较好土层。     

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.     

粉喷桩桩周土施工效应室内模型试验研究

粉喷桩在高速公路软土地基处理工程中得到广泛应用,但是目前对粉喷施工效应问题没有清晰的认识。针对粉喷桩施工效应问题,设计了粉喷桩室内模型试验机并采用大直径PVC管开挖取原状样进行粉喷桩施工试验。通过粉喷桩施工的模型试验,发现对于天然沉积的软土而言施工后桩周土的物理性质没有产生变化,但是桩周土的强度在距桩边一定的范围内强度降低,并且随着喷粉压力增大而增大,离桩边距离减小而增大。     

堆载预压处理原料场软基的数值分析

堆载预压是软土地基常用的处理方法,砂石桩和塑料排水板可以加快超孔压的消散,对软基加固有利。采用数值模拟方法,对上海梅山钢铁公司江边码头料场在堆载过程中土体变形和孔压分布规律进行数值仿真,模拟结果表明,砂石桩的施工有利于超孔隙水压力的消散,料场的沉降值在每次加料期间变化明显,且随着堆料堆高的增加而明显增大;每级荷载初期完成的变形量基本达到本级稳定状态下的变形总量的70%以上,后期变形较缓慢,逐步收敛呈稳定状态,在满足最终堆矿荷载要求的情况下,也保证了正常运行。     

Numerical study of creep effects on settlements and load transfer mechanisms of soft soil improved by deep cement mixed soil columns under embankment load

Deep cement mixed (DCM) soil columns have been widely utilized to improve soft soil to support embankments or seawalls. However, the influence of the time-dependent behavior of the soft soil on the performance of DCM column-supported embankments is not well understood. In this study, the finite element (FE) model was established to investigate the creep effects on settlements and load transfer mechanisms of the soft soil improved by DCM columns under embankment load. Comparisons were conducted for the cases of the soft soil with or without creep. The parametric analysis demonstrated that the area replacement ratio and Young's modulus of the DCM column can largely influence the long-term behaviors of the DCM column-improved composite ground. The numerical results were also compared with the results calculated by German design method (EBGEO) and British design method (BS 8006). Regarding the vertical stress taken by the DCM column, EBGEO method provides a lower limit while BS 8006 method provides an upper limit.     

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.