Numerical analysis of soft clay performance reinforced by geosynthetics encased stone columns

Abstract

To improve the behavior of stone columns, the Geosynthetics is used for encasing the stone column as reinforcement material. The Geosynthetics Encased Stone Column (GESC) system has been developed to increase the confinement effect of the ordinary stone columns, and consequently to improve the load carrying capacity of stone columns. In this paper, finite element based numerical study has been carried out using ABAQUS program to study the performance of the GESC systems under different conditions. The influences of some effective parameters were studied to show the improvement in soil bearing and settlement decrease for the stone column-soil system. These include the column dimensions, the encasement stiffness and shear strength of the foundation soil.