Modeling of granular bed‐stone column‐improved soft soil

The present study pertains to the development of a mechanical model for predicting the behavior of granular bed-stone column-reinforced soft ground. The granular layer that has been placed over the stone column-reinforced soft soil has been idealized by the Pasternak shear layer. The saturated soft soil has been idealized by the Kelvin–Voigt model to represent its time-dependent behavior and the stone columns are idealized by stiffer Winkler springs. The nonlinear behavior of the granular fill has been incorporated in this study by assuming a hyperbolic variation of shear stress with shear strain as in one reported literature. Similarly, for soft soil it has also been assumed that load-settlement variation is hyperbolic in nature. The effect of consolidation of the soft soil due to inclusion of the stone columns has also been included in the model. Plane-strain conditions are considered for the loading and foundation soil system. The numerical solutions are obtained by a finite difference scheme and the results are presented in a non-dimensional form. Parametric studies for a uniformly loaded strip footing have been carried out to show the effects of various parameters on the total as well as differential settlement and stress concentration ratio. It has been observed that the presence of granular bed on the top of the stone columns helps to transfer stress from soil to stone columns and reduces maximum as well as differential settlement. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.