Deformation behaviour of single and meshed stone columns in centrifuge tests

Publication Title
Deformation behaviour of single and meshed stone columns in centrifuge tests

Abstract

Soft soils are a major issue in civil engineering, and the stone/sand column technique, among several techniques developed to ensure serviceability, has been intensively used in Europe since the 1950s. The process consists of installing a vertical stone/sand column, which acts as a stiffer element as well as a drain, thus supporting load and decreasing both consolidation time and soft soil settlements. The stone columns are also useful to improve the bearing capacity of the soft soil foundation, preventing the need for basal reinforcement or berms. Their failure occurs due to excessive lateral expansion, generalized shearing, or base punching. The use of this technique in very soft soils is normally associated with geosynthetic encasements installed around the stone columns to ensure confinement. This paper aims to use centrifuge modelling to investigate the deformation behaviour of stone columns subjected to constant loading and how the geometrical parameters of stone column networks affect their overall behaviour. For this purpose, different clay samples with different undrained shear strengths were built to investigate the influence of the installation method and the area replacement ratio. Additionally, tests were carried out with conventional and encased stone columns to evaluate the effect on settlements and total stress redistribution.

Authors
Romain Girout; Jose Renato Oliveira; MARCIO ALMEIDA; M. Riccio

Published In

11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)

Theme

Session 6: Onshore and offshore foundation systems