Improving the Bearing Capacity of Footing on Soft Soils Using Stone Columns

In the present paper, the numerical analysis of stone columns in improving the bearing capacity of footing with the length of 10m, and thickness of 0.5 m in fine-grained soil is studied. The case study, stone columns group, has 3 columns which are symmetric. Two-dimensional finite element method is used for investigating the behavior of stone columns. In addition, behavior of stone column’s materials and its surrounding soil has been modeled using the Mohr-Coulomb elasto-plastic constitutive model. In this analysis, the various parameters such as number of columns, influence of deformation in single column and stone column group, young modulus of the materials of stone column and soil, Poisson’s ratio of column’s material and soil have been studied. Results indicate that efficiency of stone columns in soft fine-grained soil. Most important results show that operations of stone columns are faster and less costly comparing to piles.