Numerical analysis of the installation effects on the behaviour of soft clay improved by stone columns

This paper addresses the installation effects of stone columns in soft soils. Focus is made on the lateral expansion of stone material using the vibro displacement and substitution techniques by means of numerical simulations. The behaviour of reinforced soil after stone column installation is investigated to show how the properties of soft soils can be improved prior to final loading. The effect of such an improvement on the prediction of reinforced soil settlement is evaluated. The axisymmetric unit cell model (UCM) served for the comparison between numerical predictions made by the Mohr-Coulomb and hardening soil constitutive laws adopted for the soft soil. An equivalent group of end bearing columns model was investigated in the axisymmetric condition to predict the settlement of reinforced soil by adopting the Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model for soft clay. The reduction of settlements predicted by the unit cell and group of columns models, due the improvement of the Young’s modulus of soft clay, were compared. It is concluded that a significant reduction of settlement is expected when the group of columns model is considered.