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Abstract
Numerical Analysis of Ground Reinforced with a
Stone Column Group
Saeedeh Tabarsaz and Abbas Soroush
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran,
Iran
soroush@aut.ac.ir
Abstract
This paper presents the numerical analyses of a group of stone columns penetrated in
a 10 m deep soft clay stratum. A rigid raft transfers the super-structure's loading to
the stone columns and the parent ground. The columns group comprises of five
columns with a symmetric configuration. The numerical analyses are performed on a
plane strain idealization of the structure, using an elasto plastic constitutive behavior
for both the stone columns and the soft clay layer. Additional numerical analyses
with different range of parameter, like number of columns, space of columns,
column’s length, foundation’s size, Poison ratio of soil and stone columns’ material
and modulus of elasticity ratio of the stone columns’ material were conducted. The
results of analyses showed that lateral displacements (bulging) occur in the upper
parts of the columns (between 2D and 4D from the top; D is the column diameter)
and the lateral displacements are comparatively higher for the side columns. The
major result of the analyses is that for a group of stone columns supporting a rigid
raft under spread loading, the lengths of the stone columns could be designed
unequal, i.e., inside the columns can be shorter, without significantly increasing of
the settlements of the column group.
Received: 2008/05/3 | Accepted: 2009/05/4 | Published: 2011/03/5